Void Scars
by Killerkungfu
Summary: Vivace was just a normal dragon, until he was captured by a strange IceWing group called The Orokin. They experimented on him, and he became a whole new dragon, one of great power. Go along with him as he unlocks his power, and plots revenge upon the Orokin.
1. Chapter 1: Loss

_**((So, this is the first story I've ever written! It takes aspects from a game I love to play( points to you inf you know what it is,) but enough talking, on to the story!))**_

Chapter One: Loss _ **edit**_  
"Is it ready?" Vivace overheard, being dragged along slowly by a burly IceWing. His head was spinning with the cacophony in the large room; the scream of a dragonet being pulled away from their parents; the vivacious chatter of the leaders; the wall of soldiers blocking an angry mob a short distance away.  
"Vivace!" He heard his mother call, sadly.

Vivace dug his talon into the stone under him, trying to fight back against his captive. He managed to damage to IceWing's leg, but that was all he could manage. He felt a blow hit his neck and spine, and he felt dazed.  
He saw his mother suddenly jump over the wall of soldiers, and slitting one's throat. She made a break for Vivace, but didn't make it a fourth of the distance before being pinned down, her neck being crushed by a guard. Vivace felt helpless as he watched the guard slowly pull a metal object off a belt on his waist. He heard three shots, crisp, staccato.

 _Tink!-Tink!-Tink!  
_  
His mother's talon fell, and a pool of black blood pooled around her skull.  
 _No. NO!_  
Vivace held his urge to cry aloud inside of him. He knew if he tried to run to her, the guard would just knock him out completely.  
 _Curse you... curse you all!_  
He was dragged along, like a living ragdoll. He saw his mother's figure fade away from him slowly, as if she was a sunset. The world went dark; either something was over his head, or he'd lost consciousness.

When he came to, he was in a circular room with several others dragons, one from each tribe. They all had scared expressions on their faces, as if they'ed seen Darkstalker.  
"Go to sleep, you have a very... painful day tomorrow," The IceWing guard said, smiling. He shut the door and the light in the room vanished. The SeaWing beside Vivace lit up her scales.  
"Why are we here?" She asked, tears in her eyes. She was a deep purple, and had speckles of gold in her scales. By her phosphorescent scales he could tell that she was of royal decent. He had to admit he thought she was pretty.  
"I don't know," the burly SkyWing said; he was a lighter orange, with strange deep blue eyes.  
Vivace turned and saw the RainWing crying on the shoulder of the IceWing and MudWing inside the cave; he wanted to join the Rainwing, but another thought hit him.  
 _Strange... why is an is an IceWing here? Why would they take one of their own tribe?_

Vivace spoke, looking down at his black and yellow scales, clear hybrid indication.  
"Whatever they brought us here for, I'm getting revenge."  
The SeaWing nodded, understanding him. "I want to as well. But first, me must play their game."  
Her light vanished. "Rest, we shall need it." 

Vivace woke first, before any of the others stirred. He woke the SeaWing.  
"You all right?" He asked.  
"Yeah. My name's Aquifer." She replied.  
"Vivace."  
"Did they kill your family too?" She asked, looking saddened.  
Vivace's emotion overwhelmed him, but he kept it inside.  
"They did. The beasts they are, killing for no reason."  
"I feel you, and I agree. Wake the others."  
Vivace looked up quickly. "You have a plan?"  
She turned to him. "No. I'm rolling with the current currently," she joked.  
They laughed a little, a seemingly impossible thing to do in their current situation.  
"So you make it up as you go?"  
"Yes, I do. Lets wait until we know what's so 'painful' about today."  
They woke the others, and they all introduced themselves.  
"I'm Guerrilla," The RainWing spoke. She had a dark gray spot along his scales, that wouldn't go away, no matter what color her scales became. She was a wiry build, and she seemed nervous.  
"Welkin," The SkyWing said, confidently.

"Regosol," The MudWing uttered quietly. He must've have a IceWing heritage, for he had a white tint to his brown, making a white chocolate-like color. He was small, for a MudWing. That's why they captured him; I've heard that IceWings hat hybridization.  
"Flashfreeze," The IceWing vocalized. She was a weird Ultramarine blue, the Spines down her back fading to a pure white. Vivace saw where she got her name from; Flashfreeze looked like water slowly turning to ice. "Flash for short."

"Sandstone." The SandWing said from far across the room. She looked like she was partially made of stone. Her scales were a pure tan, with underscales a apt yellow.

Vivace and Aquifer uttered their names, then said, in unison, "Nice to meet you all." As they said this, the door swung open with a creak that made me want to claw my ears off. "So, you are awake. I am Baylis, and today, you go from dragonets, to Tennos".


	2. Chapter 2: Scarred and Scared

"Tennos!?" They all stated at once.

"Yes, Tennos, powerful warriors. The only way they are made is when specially strong dragons are charged with Void energy. It will scar you, but change you forever."

They were dumbfounded.

 _What have I fallen into?_ Vivace asked himself. That's why we're here. Baylis thinks we're strong enough to handle the energy.

"I'm guessing this is going to hurt." Guerilla said, his scales turning blue.

"Yes, it will. Follow." he ordered, and follow they did.

Vivace got outside the door and saw the death ahead of him. He stepped over a corpse and stayed close behind Baylis. Vivace could see that they had killed... everyone. No one who was in the mob was alive anymore.

He felt rage consume him, but bottled it up, and stowed in under his heart.

 _Don't lash out, not yet._

He led them to a room with actual furnishing. Beds, sofas, pillows, everything. Vivace became confused.

"This is meant to be painful?" He asked.

"No, that's just where you'll be living for the next week. Go." They filed in one by one, and all settled in the room. Baylis left them.

It was a luxury. Beautiful gold was everywhere in the rooms. It had a kitchen, enough food for a week. Their beds were easily kings, or even larger. The even had what appeared to be a training room, and one room for recreation. The floor was carpeted in a smooth royal purple.

"Whoa!" Aquifer spoke, exploring the rooms. Vivace followed her. The others dispersed around the rooms. Most of them sat in the recreation room. Flash and Guerilla where around the pool table, about to start a game. Aquifer took a seat away from the others, and Vivace sat close to her.

They watched the two play their game; Flash won. "No fair!" Guerilla said.

"Whatever. I won." Flash said.

One of the walls of the room faded, revealing two IceWings and a NightWing; Vivace could tell one was Baylis.

They spoke. "I'm Orokin, and this is Morgulis." The Unknown IceWing said, gesturing to the NightWing.

"For the next week, you'll be exposed to the Void's energy. We have clue how it will affect you. All we know is, you will be altered, and you will never be a normal dragon again."

Orokin nodded over at someone they couldn't see.

Then he felt it, a searing pain. It felt like he was on the surface of the sun. None of them could move, and Vivace passed out. The last thing he saw was Aquifer falling on the floor.

He came to, and looked at himself. The pain had gone away. He felt along his neck, and found a deep scar along it.

Everyone else was up.

"Ugh. My head. What happened?"

"You passed out, we all did," Aquifer said. She had a new scar close to her eyes. It was rough and black. He noticed that all of them had the scar somewhere on them.

"Do you feel different?" He asked them.

"No." Flash said; his scar was black, right down his body.

"Maybe we will develop it later, as we become more exposed." Guerilla said; his scar was along the sides of his face.

Regosol didn't speak, he still seemed sad. Vivace simply sat.

It was going to be a long week, or so it seemed.

The days passed surprisingly quickly. Vivace thought it was day four when the powers arrived.

Aquifer would disappear for an amount of time. Five Minutes, Three hours, even half a day once.

Vivace began to be able to shot beams of purple energy from his talons, but only for a short time.

Regosol would dash distances quickly without warning.

Flash could completely turn invisible.

Guerilla could use the energy Vivace was in a different way. He was able to create small harmless blasts of it that pushed things away.

Welkin could manipulate heat, but it was weak.

Sandstone could manipulate her density.

There was only one problem: they couldn't control these powers. Vivace felt guilty; he'd accidentally burned Flash we he'd become angry. It was the first time his power had flared up.

On the dawn of day seven, Vivace sat up slowly, he looked around for the others.

"Guerilla?" He called.

"Behind you," The RainWing answered, materializing, making Vivace jump.

"Geez man! Don't do that!"

Aquifer laughed. She was appearing and ceasing to exist constantly.

Vivace walked to the kitchen area of their rooms, and began to cook, something he had gotten better at. He cooked and egg for himself and ate it, then sat with the others in the bedroom.

"So... today is the last day. Baylis should stop by soon." Regosol said; he'd been clawing the wall to count the days.

The main door to their residence opened.

"Speak of the devil..." Vivace said, looking up to see a NightWing in the doorway. Something welled up inside him, like a Supernova had exploded in his chest. All the rage he'd bottled up exploded as he saw her.

Instinctively, he thrust his claw out at her, and his beam grazed her face. He regretted what he'd done, and then became guilty.

Orokin appeared behind her.

"Morgulis!" He cried, and Vivace slapped himself mentally.

 _Morgulis is Orokin's love. She must be. He became more guilty._

"What did you devils do!?" Orokin exclaimed.

"I'm sorry! My powers flared up again!"

"Orokin... It's fine. I thought I would get hurt. Don't take it out on the dragonets." Margulis whispered, but Vivace's keen ears caught everything they'd said.

Orokin looked up, showing his golden tattoos along his underscales. He was a creamy white, which complemented Morgulis's phlox purple.

"You're ready then. Baylis!" He called, "Take these dragonets to their new forms."


	3. Chapter 3: Rebirth

They followed Baylis. He put a small bracelet on Aquifer, and she didn't vanish anymore.

"What'd you do?" She asked.

"Nothing, just allowing you to control you're power."

Aquifer went into a prowl like stance, and she disappeared as she had before.

"Nice." she said.

"What about us?!" The rest of the dragonets quelled.

"You all I can't help. You have to learn by yourself. But sense Baylis says you're ready, there won't be much to left here for you all."

"And what do you mean?" Regosol asked.

"You'll see." Baylis walked out of the room; they followed.

The entered the main hallway. It was decorated with beautiful statues of dragons in warrior like positions, surrounded by enemies, made of clear blue ice. You could tell the fighters were tired, but still fierce. The hallway bustled with commotion; all of Orokins workers moving quickly. He saw some of the other children, but only briefly.

They entered a room with seven strange machines.

"Somatic Links." Baylis explained, "they will allow you to preform transference."

"Okay," Welkin said, "but you act like we know what anything you just said means."

"Transference is the process of moving the consciousness of the dragon to another."

"How can you do that?" Guerilla asked, turning an inquisitive yellow.

"Your guess is as good as mine. I don't make the spells that allow this stuff to work, I'm just a guard."

Vivace nodded, "So why are we here?"

Baylis smiled devilishly. "Because you're going in there."

Vivace felt a dragon grab him, and saw the others be picked up. He cried, "Aquifer!"

She couldn't respond, the dragons covered their maws, making it impossible to speak.

They threw him into one of the machines. He tried to jump out, but it closed around him, locking him in. He felt his heartbeat ritardando.

 _Flub-dub-Flub-dub, Flub-dub. Flub-dub..._

He felt his consciousness slip away, and felt as if he was going into a dream...

He sat up, his heart racing, and took in a sharp breath. He looked down at himself.

He was a pure SandWing, with goldenrod under-scales. He had white wing membranes, with what looked like a musical staff on them, adorned with a Treble clef on both of them.

 _What? Who... Who am I?_

He tried to think back to yesterday, but it was a blur. He could only remember small fragments.

 _Is it ready?... Tink-Tink-Tink!...Aquifer...Transference..._

He got up slowly.

"Calm yourself down Fret, you don't know where you are." He spoke, then freaked out more.

 _Is that my name? Fret? Was that always my name? He tried to think back again. Viv... was that my name?_

A thought hit him. Was this all a dream? No, I't couldn't be. It was to real.

He got out of bed, and looked at his room. It was nicely organized. It had instruments in it, each organized by what key they were in. He read some of them.

B, D, E, A.

"B Flat." How he knew this he didn't know.

He picked up the brass instrument, and a piece of sheet music. It was a solo. He played it beautifully, reading the music like it was a book. He put the Horn down. It was a Trumpet.

Fret walked out of the bedroom, when talons wrapped around his neck. He slammed against a wall, with a sickening crack!.

A name appeared in his head. Maestoso.

He stared in Fret's soul before dropping him. Fret rubbed his skull, feeling the blood running down his face. He had a thought.

I've left one hellscape and entered another.


	4. Chapter 4: Lost and Found

Something scraped the back of Fret's mind. He was still dazed by Maestoso's attack on him.

 _What happens today? My auditions!_

He'd signed up to be a part of the Queen Thorns royal band. It was an honor, especially sense he was only six. A long day was ahead of him. He knew it.

He heard Maestoso leave the house, grumbling something about killing Fret. _Fine with me,_ he thought.

He picked up the instruments he knew he had to take: Trumpet, Clarinet, and Baritone, and put them in their cases. He could play a Snare drum and Marimbas, but those would already be there for him. After eating, he set out for the Queen's palace.

As he flew away from the Scorpion Den, he thought about his solos, fingering them and humming as he flew, flapping his wings in tempo with the solos.

He finally arrived, and went into the palace slowly. He ran into Thorn.

"Fret!" she said. "I'm excited to see you join the band! You know you'll be the youngest in there? All of the others here are at least fifteen."

"I know, I don't know if I'll qualify."

"That doesn't matter to me. The fact that you're competing with those who have years of experience above you is reason enough to be proud of you." He had to admit she was right.

He said goodbye to her and she flew off, probably to a meeting. All the tribes where on edge with what the IceWings had been doing. It was reported that dragons from all tribe where disappearing, never to be seen again. It was like the NightWing Labs all over again.

Fret walked into his first Solo room: Trumpet. He played his solo perfectly as usual. Then he had terms.

"Maestoso," His judge called.

"Accented." Fret answered.

"Cantabile."

"In a singing style.

"Con Anima."

"With Animation."

"Vivace."

Fret froze.

 _That word... Vivace. Was that my old Name?_

"What does it mean?" His judge asked, snapping him to alertness.

"Oh, Lively, brisk."

His judged passed him a sheet of music. Fret had one minute to study, then he had to play it. He hated sightreading.

"Play it." His judge said.

He played, as best he could. He missed his key once, but everything else was perfect.

The judge was writing his score.

"You have a Superior. Good job!"

Fret bowed to him, and walked out of the room.

He repeated this with each instrument. Marimba, then Clarinet, then Baritone, then Snare. But he still wasn't done. He went into the final room: Composition.

"You have two hours to write a solo composition with the following styles: Cantabile, Con Anima, and Marziale. Good luck. Your time starts... now."

Fret immediately began to write. First the time signature, then the key. His time seemed to fly, and he was finished before he started.

"Done," he said; the judge was shocked. He'd done it in fifteen minutes.

Tired, both mentally and physically, he began to fly home.

That's when his keen ears heard it.

 _Doot...Doot..._

Fret looked around, trying to triangulate where the sound was coming from.

He began to fly towards it, and its tempo speed up.

 _Doot. Do; Doot, Dat-Do Dat._

He pushed his ear to the ground, and heard it below him. He began to dig.

A while later he found the source; strange attachments, circular, clearly meant to be worn. They wee black and yellow. He touched them.

It began to attach to him and he cried out, "Ahh!"

Two attached to his forearms, and two still attached to his hind legs.

They, all in place, let out a small choral sound.

 _Ahh!_

 _What are these things?_ He thought. Too tired to care anymore, he flew home. He caught some strange glances, but no one stopped him.

Feeling dead, he dozed off, into a dreamless sleep, thinking.

Was I Vivace? Where is that Me? What are these things? Did they chose me?

Do I have a Destiny? And what is it?


	5. Chapter 5: Awakening

Fret woke up slowly, rising like a reborn phoenix. He looked at his arms, and what had happened yesterday came to him.

"A strange thing you are."

He got out of bed, and exited his house. The cool, crisp desert air caressed him slowly. The sun was peeking over the horizon. He looked down, and saw a paper in front of him with Audition Results on it in a large print.

He picked it up, and became shocked.

It read:

 _Dear Fret,_

 _Because of your skills in composing, we have assigned you to be the main composer and detail specialist in the band. However, we may need you to play. In this case, you'll be in the trumpet section, First chair! Meet us today at noon in the palace!_

 _(First chair = best in section!)_

 _Congrats,_

 _Queen Thorn_

 _Wow. Did I really do that well? he thought._

He ran inside, to prepare for the rehearsal. He grabbed the instruments he'd taken the day before, then left for the palace again. He looked down at the attachments on his arms, and wondered what they could do.

He hummed to himself, and entered the palace slowly. He walked slowly, and entered the auditorium. He saw Thorn and a few others warming up on their horns, but one individual stood out more than everyone else.

"Qibli!" Fret cried, seeing the SandWing. They'ed always been close, sense they always used to practice together in the Scorpion Den. They would complement and criticize each other; they competed to be better than the other.

"Hey Fret! How's it been?" Qibli responded.

"Fine. I've been fine." By how Qibli was looking, it was clear he noticed the objects on him.

"Before you ask, I have no clue what these things are." Fret said.

"They look animus touched to me."

"I think so too, but it can't be made by anyone in the Sand Kingdom; they don't look very old, so Jerboa couldn't have made it."

"What do they do?"

Fret hesitated, "I... don't know. That intrigues me and scares me all at once."

Qibli examined it a bit closer.

"Here," he said, tapping the underside of it, "It has writing."

I flipped it over, and in smooth writing the word _Mandachord_ was indented upon it.

"Mandachord. Hmm. Seems music related," Fret thought aloud.

"Interesting. Knowing you, of course you'd get something music related." Qibli joked to him.

Fret laughed a little, and punched him lightly.

"Anyways, you came for the band?"

"Nah, just stopping by, checking in with Thorn. All the IceWing attacks have everyone worked up.

"I see. Well, I'll see you soon!"

"Bye Fret. See ya round."

Fret turned to the band and waved as Qibli departed.

"Is everyone ready?" He asked, looking at Thorn.

She shook her head, "No, some of the Winds aren't here yet."

"Oh."

 _HIIIIIIIIIIIISSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS..._

Fret's ears picked up the sound. It was faint, but it was there. He ignored it, and continued waiting, but it slowly began to tap-dance on his nerves.

He finally asked, about five minutes later, "Do you hear that hissing sound?"

"What hiss?" Thorn asked, slightly alerted.

"It's really soft, and it sounds like something burning..."

Fret suddenly put the pieces together.

"Thorn, cancel the rehearsal!" Fret said.

"What?! Why Fr-" She stared, but was cut off as a hole was blasted into the wall.

Fret had been right; the hiss had been a dragonflame cactus, burning on a long fuse.

He heard talon steps running toward him, despite the smog in front of him. They were sharp.

 _IceWings._ He thought with heavy vexation.

Thorn stood quickly, ready for any attacker. Fret shared a glace with her, and they both nodded.

The attachments on him activated, as if they sensed his emotions and the danger at hand, playing a melody hissing with anger and hatred. A nasty, unbalanced chord played, and a large, intricate recurve bow appeared in his right talon. On his back, a quiver of diamond tipped arrows nestled on his waist. The bow was a deep yellow around its outside, with dapples of black on it.

 _Whoa. That's new. Maybe these things are weapons._

He drew the recurve bow, holding his breath, waiting for someone to show. The smoke slowly cleared, and Fret heard his heart drumming in his ears, anticipating an attack. He heard the sound of a blizzard in a IceWings mouth, and knew frostbreath was coming.

He tackled Thorn, and the frost began to grow on her wings painfully. While the attacking dragon breathed in, Fret shot an arrow right into his maw, tearing through his skull. The dragon fell back, and the life drained from him.

Fret shook the numbness out of his wings, and looked up. The smoke had cleared, and he saw the odds: 12 to 1.

 _Great, just what I need._

He felt adrenaline flow to his muscles; he felt stronger, faster, and even smarter. His heart accelerated, and his music followed.

The IceWings saw the body of their comrade, and reeled away, fear in their eyes.

Fret spoke loudly, with a confidence in his voice.

"I'll give you all a chance to leave here. When I hit zero, you'd better be gone, faraway from here!. Five! Four!"

The IceWings looked at each other, when their leader spoke.

"We're not afraid of one of you!" He boomed, and Fret counted, "Three!"

"Its only one! We can take him!" Another called. "Two!" He counted, a little more venomously.

They lined up horizontally, and prepared an attack, all seven of them. Fret pulled seven arrows out of the quiver, placed them in his right talon, and counted loudly. "One!"

The Dragons stepped forward in defiance.

Fret pulled his head down, but kept his eyes locked on the dragons. The musicians on stage had stepped down, coming to his side. He hissed murderously, "Zero." He pulled an arrow out of his right, and pinned a IceWing to the floor.

The others charged forward, the musicians meet them, and the room erupted in fighting.

An IceWing jumped at Fret, trying to claw his face. Fret dodged left, but still got graze across his head. Before the IceWing could move, he pinned his talon to the floor. The IceWing cried in pain. "Please!" She cried, "Leave me be!"

Fret shook his head, "Should've left while you had the chance." He prepped his shot, and nailed her throat, and the arrow only went through a small amount. Fret grabbed the arrow, and twisted it across, breaking her neck.

He saw a IceWing about to execute a fellow SandWing, and he tagged the dragons chest, hitting the dragon right through the heart.

Thorn was in the front of the battle, striking enemies down easily. But they couldn't keep up. The SandWings lost more than they defeated. The IceWings were winning, however slowly.

Fret caught a flash of blue, and nearly shot at it. After inspection, he realized it was a SeaWing. She ran into the fight bravely, and stopped in the middle.

 _What's she doing?_ Fret wondered.

The dragon's phosphorescent scales glowed, then she dissolved into water. It seemed harmless.

Suddenly, the water began to grab the IceWings, pulling them beneath the ravenous undertow. Within second, many of the IceWings were underwater. He heard no cries, nor screams. The dragons under were drowning slowly. The others fled in fear of being drowned. Fret's music dimmed, and slowly calmed down to a calm, soothing melody.

Minutes later, the dragon reconstituted, become herself again. Then he saw her. She was beautiful; a SeaWing NightWing hybrid. She had stars in her fins, under her wings, and even some in her phosphorescent lights. She turned, and glared at Fret, a curiously scared look in her eye. The bodies of the IceWings she'd drowned reappeared, lifeless. As quick as she arrived, she began to flee the scene, with every SandWing left in awe.

Fret walked to the hole in the wall, and hesitated.

 _Decide. Stay, of follow her._ It seemed like an obvious choice. Stay! It was safer.

But something felt like it was pulling the strings of his mind. He realized it was the mysterious dragon.

His wings move on their own, pulling him in the direction of the dragon fleeing the scene.

 _This is all to real. This isn't a dream. The pain, the suffering, the death, the blood...all real._

He followed the dragon into the unknown, wondering if his destiny had begun.


	6. Chapter 6: Just Like You?

Fret followed the dragon for the rest of the day. When his adrenaline had dimmed, he realized the pain his body was in.

He looked down at his underside, noticing deep gnashes, slashes, and bashes in his scales that he hadn't noticed before. Even in such pain, he pushed on.

Fret fell in tempo with the dragon, flapping his wings in time with hers. As they entered the rainforest, night had began to fall. The SeaWing landed, clearing going to rest. Fret landed in a tree far away from her, but didn't rest.

She's half Night, he reasoned, So she won't sleep for long.

Bored of waiting, Fret began to compose by clawing at the tree's bark. To his surprise, his attachment scanned the composition, then began to play it quietly.

 _That's convenient._

By the time he was done, the dragon was waking. She took off, and Fret followed her at a distance, careful not to hit trees in the brush around him, he flew above her. His music silenced.

They flew a while longer, when the dragon suddenly stopped, and Fret did as well. She peered around, then phased into water again.

Has she detected me? He thought. His question was answered when a talon of water grabbed him, and threw his to the ground.

The blow was stunning. Before he could move, she was on top of him, a dagger at his throat.

"Why are you following me SandWing?" She asked, a slight wavering in her voice.

Fret still slightly stunned, did not reply.

"Answer me!" She cried.

"Because..." He started, "Your just like me. That look you gave me, like you where scared of me, what was that about?"

"Those attachments, how did you find them?" She said, completely ignoring his question.

"They were buried in the desert sands."

"And what is your name?"

"Fret."

"Interesting," She said, pulling the dagger away from his throat and getting off of him.

"You're one of us. Powerful, different, outcasted." She said, passionately.

"What do you mean?"

"Your a warrior, born to fight, with instincts to kill. Its natural to us."

"And how is that?"

She shook her head. "We think the IceWings have been using their captives to make these... well, living weapons. Do you have faded memories? Like you had a life before this? Like you where a different dragon?" She turned to him.

"Yes, I do. I can only remember fragments of it though." Fret said.

"We can't remember our names. Can you?"

"We?"

"They are more than just me and you. They are many of us."

Fret nodded, then tried to remember what had happened back then.

"Aquifer. I remember that name."

Shock filled the dragon. "That seems familiar to me, like it was my name. Maybe it was me. I can't remember any names, I'm sorry."

"That's fine."

"Anyways, we are called Warframes, aptly named. We know we have three total names: our birth names, our Warframes name, and our old name. I know all of them now, thanks to you."

"Your...welcome?" Fret said. "Where were you going?"

"To our base. Sense your one of us, you can follow me. But before we do that, I need to bring you to water."

"Why?"

"You'll see. Stop asking so many questions." She took off, and flew towards the sound of running water. Mildly embarrassed, Fret followed.

"Oh, I'm Lapis, by the way." She said, looking back at him.

They arrived at a slow flowing river, encircled by glorious flora. Fret stood close to the edge, peering in. Lapis pushed him in.

"Hey!" Fret cried. Lapis began to laugh.

"Calm down. I'm going to heal you." She placed her talon on his chest.

"Breathe in." She commanded, and he followed. He took in half of his breath slowly, but the other half was sharp and quick.

The water began to curl around his wounds, cleaning them, and washing away the blood. It felt slightly pleasuring, the feeling of the water around him. He felt the wounds begin to close, and his pain ebb away.

"Done." She pulled him out of the river.

Fret looked down; his scales looked healthier than they had ever been.

"Thanks for that."

He caught a glimpse of red on her face, but it quickly faded.

"Its nothing really. C'mon, we need to get moving."

They flew for the rest of the day, and arrived on a small archipelago, each with a small structure on it. On the largest seemed to be a living area. The next had what appeared to be an arena.

"How do you hide this?" Fret asked.

"We don't." She explained, "This island so far out, nobody comes this far."

"Oh." Fret replied, but his discomfort lingered.

 _So its possible for this place to be attacked._

They landed at the dorm-like area, and Lapis spoke loudly.

"You guys! I found someone new! Someone just like you!"


	7. Chapter 7: Friends

Lapis stepped inside, and gestured to Fret to follow. Night had begun to fall.

Fret walked in, and was in a room, attached to a staircase. He heard talonsteps coming towards him. A RainWing peered over the ledge.

"Hey! He's the new one?!" The dragon said excitedly.

"Yes. Introduce yourself." Lapis said.

"Okay. My birth name is Mirage, Mirage is my Warframe, and I can't remember my old name." Mirage said. He had a yellow and blue color pattern on him, looking like an oasis tantalizing you in a desert.

"I'm Fret," He said, and shook Mirage's hand.

"Fret, that's a strange name for a SandWing," Mirage commented, "but you're welcome here."

Fret felt something, something he felt rarely. Happiness? Compassion? Not quite.

Ah! Acceptance, that's what it was. He never fit in with people all that much, but he like that Mirage had made him feel welcomed.

"Thanks." He said.

"We should take him to the others." Lapis suggested.

Mirage nodded, and the three headed down the stairs.

The entered a living room, and in it where four other dragons. Lapis and Mirage sat on a sofa close by Fret.

"So you're the one making all the ruckus?" An IceWing said. "Birthname:Flurry, Warframe: Frost. Nice to see another one of us. Fret, Right?" She said. She had streaks of bright Florescent blues along her scales in small dots. She looked like her namesake, a storm of snowflakes.

"Yeah. Nice to meet you."

A Night/Sky hybrid got off of a couch, and walked over to the others.

"Birthnames: Sunset." She said, gesturing to her form. She was a Licorice Black in her upper half, and faded to Orange in her lower half.

"And Sunrise..." she waved a talon over her form, and became a male Ice/Rain hybrid. He looked inverted to Sunset, like he was made upside down.

"Warframe name: Equinox." He said. He separated into his two forms, and they seemed to dance. They combined into a balanced form, looking like noon on a sunny day.

"Whoa. Cool powers!" Fret said; Equinox simply bowed.

The MudWing spoke. He looked heavily armored, like a small brown brick of stone.

"Birthname: Terra, Warframe: Rhino." The MudWing said quickly, then he sat back down.

The NightWing stood, and she was slightly bigger than everyone else. She had green underscales, and onyx black overscales.

"Birthname: Nox, Warframe: Nyx. I'm happy to see someone new for a change." She said. "I was starting to get sick of the others." she joked, a bit quieter, making Fret snicker.

Lapis grabbed Fret's talon. "I'll show you your room," she said. Fret waved to the dragons in the room. He realized how tired he was.

"Bye!" They all said in unison.

Lapis led him to a room that had small delicate dapples of gold. The floor even had a thin layer of sand along it, a faint reminder of home. Along the wall was a sandstone bed. Along the other was music sheets, separated by difficulty.

"Its nice," Fret commented, "How'd it know what I like?"

"The rooms are enchanted to change as soon as someone new lands. It cater to their liking." She leaned on the doorframe, as Fret stalked inside.

"I am."

She turned to leave, but Fret stopped her by touching her shoulder.

"Lapis. Thanks again for all of this. You didn't have to take me here."

He saw her blush, then she turned away.

"You're welcome; I strive to make all of the newcomers feel welcome."

"Mission accomplished," Fret joked, smiling at her.

"Sweet dreams," She said to him, and left him in his room. He walked over to the bed, and lay down. Soon he was sleeping calmly, better than he had in years.


	8. Chapter 8: Acclimate

(Lapis's Pov.)

I awoke, but stayed in bed, organizing my thoughts.

What else can that SandWing do? I thought, What power is he unable to access?

Much, much deeper in my mind, a thought whispered.

What does he think of me? Does he like me?

After thinking for a while longer, I finally got up out of bed, and gazed at my room. It was a lapis lazuli covered cave. The had a bad clarity, clouded with white spots, but I like the impurities.

Walking out of the room, I began to hear music. It was clearly a string instrument.

Fret must be playing something.

I walked toward the sound, and began to hear the melody more clearly. It wasn't purely happy, but it wasn't sad either. The style was unfamiliar to me. I sat outside his cave, listening to the song, tapping my talon instinctively. I heard the final chord of the song play, and I stood and entered his cave nervously.

"Slept well?" I asked him.

"Yeah, I did, thanks to you." He said to me, gazing at me with his soft, purple eyes. They had a way of showing the other side of him, his care and forgivingness.

I had to admit... Fret was pretty cute for a SandWing.

"Good," was all I could muster as a reply. "What was that you were playing?" I asked.

"Oh, I was just testing a new style, never used before." He replied.

"What do you call it?"

"R n B,"

"I liked it. It was smooth, and it had a slight groove to it." I commented.

"I know, it just takes you into its flow, right?" he asked.

I nodded, and stepped closer to him.

"I want to train with you, Fret." I said, looking down.

"When? Now?"

"Yes, now."

As he walked confidently pass me, his warm wing caressed my side, warming my soul.

"Well, lets go then," He said, looking back at me.

I nodded and led him to the Arena.

It was early out, and the sun had just kissed the horizon.

Me and Fret landed across from each other on the Arena sands. Fret's attachment played a calmer song, and a longbow appeared in his talons. I simply watched.

"Are you going to fight or just gawk and admire me?" Fret asked, smiling cockily, nearly making me blush. He made me want to hug him and bite his head off at the same time.

"I'm going to wipe the smile off your face." I replied, pulling out a short dagger.

"We'll see." He began to shoot arrows at me, applying pressure. My agility allowed me to dodge his shots easily. It reached up and drew water from the sea, then made it rain.

This wasn't a regular storm, this was a hurricane, winds raging.

I was pleasantly surprised by Fret's strength. He managed to keep standing, even with the wind whipping around him. He glared at me with venom.

"Gonna take more than a typhoon to take me down," he said cockily. I snarled at him.

 _How dare he mock me! He hasn't been here for a week._

I coagulated some rain in the storm, and threw it right at him. The hug raindrop knocked him down, and I followed up, trying to pin him down. He was quick, and rolled away, the stood, as far away as he was before.

"Lucky shot." He said. I knocked him down again.

"Still lucky?!" I rubuted.

I kept up my pressure, bending the storm to my will; Fret kept up, able to dodge almost all of my attacks. The fight waged on, an I'd identified one of Fret's strong suites: Endurance. Even with how long We'd fought, Fret looked as if he'd just started. His pace couldn't slow. He'd push himself until he had nothing left.

 _I have to end this, Now!_

I saw him begin to reach into his quiver for arrows, and took the opening. I madly dashed at him, going for his throat.

His attachments seemed to protect him. The music changed to an angry style, and his bow phased into a longsword. He swung it quickly.

 _Ting-ing-ing!_

Fret had parried my strike, leaving me wide open for an attack. He tackled me and pinned me to the floor, sword poking my heart.

"Checkmate, Lapis, checkmate." Fret panted, his scales warm against me.

I blushed at how close we were, I couldn't hold it back. "Get off me!" I cried; my storm subsided.

Fret smiled and got up slowly, his weight off of me.

I sat up angrily, and realized how hard it was to be mad while blushing.

"How'd you know how to do that?! I had to be taught how to parry!"

Fret snickered, which made my face turn a deeper shade of crimson. "I don't know, its felt like instinct. It felt like I swung without knowing it."

"Hmm, maybe the attachments protect you? Like they don't want you to die."

"Maybe," he responded, "That'd make sense. The music it plays reflects my emotions, unless I force it to change. That's all I currently know I can do: Make bows and play music." he added, nervously.

As if on cue, the attachment played a heartfelt, loving melody. Fret tried to silence it to no avail. He blushed just a little. I smiled at him.

 _He's cute when he's flustered,_ I thought. _Wait. No Lapis, you don't find him cute. Even if it feels nice when he touches you, or Even with his soft... caring... beautiful, attractive eyes... UGH! No!_

The melody ended, and he looked up at me awkwardly.

"We should head back..." He said slowly.

"Y-yeah." I stuttered. He open his music score wings and flew out of the arena. A thought hit me.

 _I have to get used to this. Acclimation isn't gonna come anytime soon._


	9. Chapter 9: Special Ops

_(Flurry's Pov.)_

"Wake up!" Lapis cried loudly, "We need to talk!"

If the storm outside didn't wake you, Lapis would. I snapped up quickly, wide awake. I hadn't slept; the memories of my old self still haunted me, keeping me awake.

 _Don't think about that... stay here, Flurry, in the present._

I walked to where Lapis had called from, hearing cacophonous movement for a while.

"C'mon Flurry!" Fret cried, "We're waiting!"

I finally rounded the bend and saw all of the others in the Ops room.

The Ops room was a large circular stone table, with one seat for each of us. Lapis headed the table, Fret across from her; Terra beside him, Nox across from him; Sunrise and Sunset sat to the left of Nox, and I filled in the last chair, closing our ring.

"Sooo..." I said, "What's the Op?"

"What is a Op?" Fret asked.

"Op. Operation, mission, task, et cetera.

Fret nodded. Lapis spoke, "A bit different this time. As everyone, except Fret, knows, the IceWings that attacked Thorn's Stronghold two days ago are not aligned with Queen Snowfall."

"Why?" Fret asked, interested.

"They were low-circled dragons. They all banded together and rebelled. Snowfall, being new to her Queenship, couldn't quell the rebellion, and it succeeded. There is one thing that's interesting. The rebellious IceWings call themselves 'The Orokin.' Why, I don't know. The Orokin seem to have an animus among them."

"How!?" We asked in unison.

"I have a theory. IceWings like Typhoon show us that exiled or low ranking IceWings have breed with other tribes. Maybe, just maybe, this has happened again, and created an animus, kinda like Darkstalker."

"Makes well enough sense," Terra said.

"Flurry," Lapis said, making me jump, "I tailed an Orokin back to as close to the Great Ice Cliff as I could go. From where he was, I think they may have set up shop in the Diamond Trail's caves."

I caught her drift. "So you want me to infiltrate them, find out as much as I can, then report back?"

"Yep, basically. You should have no trouble getting in; they've been accepting anyone who has been turned away by Snowfall. Still, If you cover's blown," She smiled slightly manically, "Show'm what we can do,"

"When do I leave?" I asked.

"Right now! Go!"

 _So much for a warning..._

I got up and flew outside quickly, and flew towards the Ice Kingdom, right into the raging storm. The winds didn't strain her flying, and she quickly cleared the storm. She was deep in thought.

I need to be careful. Inconspicuous, Natural. But how, when I've never truly been a part of my tribe. What if me being special gets me caught? What if the recognize me? What if... What if...

She cleared her mind.

Cross that bridge when you come to it. Focus on getting there first.

 _(Sunrise's Pov.)_

"So... I guess we wait." I said, looking at Sunset.

 _So what shall we do?_ she thought to me. Since we were connected, our thoughts were shared to the other. We rarely spoke to each other, unless it was urgent.

 _I don't know. Not like we can leave._

The others began to leave, probably to train. My ruff turned purple.

"Hey!" Mirage said, "I think we should show our powers to Fret!" Mirage said, and excited yellow.

"Sure." Lapis said, "Show him; he's already seen mine."

They all filed outside, and Mirage, they decided, should go first. They found a small island, and landed here to practice their powers.

"Okay, okay..." Mirage said, exhaling heavily. He swirled his claws and an orb of light appeared in his claws. He thrust them forwards, creating dopplegangers of himself. He pushed the orb into his chest, and he glow a bright, arctic white.

"Light Manipulation." Mirage said, nervously. "I could trick a NightWing."

"So your style of fighting is trickery?" Fret asked. Mirage nodded.

"Nox, your next." Mirage said.

"Alright," She said. She focused and threw her talon out. Our perceptions changed, we all appeared as someone different.

That's what I can do, appeared in my mind, and seemingly the others.

"Whoa." Fret said, "Mind Manipulation?" Fret asked.

"Yes, along with control and use of Psionic energy. It has its limits, however. All of our powers strain us in a way. Overuse can harm us."

Fret nodded, seemingly heading her warning.

"Equinooooxxxx..." Nox said, almost mockingly.

We nodded an stepped forward. We danced our beautiful dance, weaving in and out in a waltz. I wrapped my wing around her from behind, and we became Equinox, our balanced selves. We were the personification of yin and yang. I was the light side, she was the dark. Light cannot exist with out Darkness; Darkness cannot exist without Light.

 _Ready?_ I thought to Sunset.

 _Always Sunrise._

We gestured at Mirage; the sun in our chest turned into a nights sky, moon and all. Mirage fell asleep, a few moments later, he awoke.

"Huh?!" Mirage said, awaking, making the others laugh.

"Anything else?" Fret asked.

We nodded, and the sun turned back to day. We thrust our claws out at Lapis.

"Argh! Equinox!" She snarled, and they laughed again. We even chuckled at his anger. We removed the effect, and sat down.

"So, you can change emotion?" Fret asked again.

We nodded, "But also heal and harm," We spoke, our blinded voices said, making a perfect chord. "Terra, you're up."

The burly Mudwing stood. With a roar he forced his talons down and his scales became a hard steel gray.

"Hit me Fret," Terra said," hard as you can."

Fret pulled out a dagger, and dashed full speed and hit with full force, but the blow did nothing to Terra. He chuckled.

"Iron Skin. Protects me from wounds temporarily." As he said that, the skin shed away, and his caramel scales reappeared. Fret nodded at him to continue. With another almost hellish roar, the monster stomped the ground, suspending the others around him in a sort of micro-gravity. Terra let them down.

"Okay..." Fret started, "So you all seem to be a different style of fighting. Interesting. Thanks for showing me."

We all nodded and talked for a while. Told him what we could remember (not much) then flew back to the archipelago, the sunset-twilight dawning. We all said goodnight to each other, then headed to bed.

Me and Sunrise's room was a literal day-night process. My side was the day, hers the night. It arched and faded into all sorts of shades. Pinks, purples, blacks, whites, and beautiful Ice blues, all over the room.

We split back into our normal selves, our talons in one another.

 _Night_. I thought to her.

 _'G Night._

Sleep came for me and her, and a new day arose.

((Authors Note))

 _ **Wow! I'm surprised by how fast this story grew! Thanks for all the support, and for those of you that reviewed.**_

 _ **I'm all up for criticism. It simply makes me a better writer.**_

 _ **And to answer my reviewer's question: Vivace's Mother was a NightWing, and his father was a SandWing.**_

 _ **See you all in the next chapter!**_


	10. Chapter 10: In To Deep

_(Flurry's Pov.)_

I had flown all day and night, and wings were frozen icicles. Exhausted, I collapsed on the border between the Sand and Ice Kingdoms in a icy cave. It felt welcoming, and as I lay, the cold seemed to soothe my bones. Not much time later I slept.

I opened my eyes, ad I was in an icy castle. My head felt full of pain. I wondered the halls of this fortress blindly. The clean ice walls were like mirrors; anywhere I looked I could only see myself. I heard whispers around me.

 _You were made to kill. That's all you were made for. To be a loyal warrior, and to end all who supersede your progress. Is that what you are Flurry? Just a ruthless killer?_

"No... I'm not like that. I have a conscience," I spoke unto the voice.

 _You cannot have one. You were made without one._

"And how do you know?"

The voice chuckled at me.

 _Because Flurry, you speak to your conceptor._

I awoke with a start. I was scared, but confident.

 _Ignore the voice. The others depend on you. Succeed, for them, and for you._

After waiting for myself to fully awake, I flew off into the Ice Kingdom, nervously.

Now, don't get me wrong, I've had other ops before... just not ones where I'm infiltrating a shadowy IceWing organization with no real intel, no idea how they function, NO idea how they'll react to me, and NO clue what I'm looking for! See what I mean?

Pushing all of these thoughts to the back of my mind, I flew on.

Looking around, I knew what part of the Ice Kingdom I was in. I could see the shiny sea, reflecting and refracting rays of light into my eyes. It was a beautiful distraction.

 _The sea. So I must be close to the head on the "Dragon" of Pyrrhia,_ I reasoned, _which means I'm must be close. Wonder what they have setup there?_

I dove down towards the sea, and grabbed a fish out of the water. My wings skimmed lightly across the slippery silvery sea as I ate the fish hungrily. I landed, and the ice burned my talons. The land around me wasn't very even, and surprisingly, some copses of bushes still survived the deep cold. I could hear voices approaching.

"I hate patrolling. Who'd come this far out anyways?" A dragon said with a whine; he sounded young.

"Because, you never know. We might get attacked. We may not. Better safe than sorry."

I froze. I argued in my mind. _Should I talk to them?- or should I hide?_

I moved, and the brush rustled, causing them both to tense. _So much for being stealthy._ I could see both of them clearly; they both wielded a wickedly sharp spear.

"Who are you? Why do you defile these lands?" The older IceWing asked inquisitively; the little one trembled slightly. Painted along the older ones' wings was a beautiful golden tattoo of an IceWing warrior striking down (What I thought was) a SkyWing.

"I'm Flurry," I said with as much innocence as I could muster; I tried to sound like I was a royal. "I want to join you. You are of the Orokin, correct?" He nodded.

"Any IceWings are welcomed with us. Come." He took off with a surprising amount of force, sheathing the spear vertically down his spine. We flew over a large ridge, and it revealed a beautiful village. It reminded me of Possibility...if Possibility was covered in ice. I saw blue Ice igloos, ad even houses ad building that looked completely translucent. Captured dragons from other tribes were being transported rather quickly. I noticed they all had on a small metal band around their wrists.

Anger surged through me, but I had to store it under my ice-cold heart.

We flew dead at the center of a plaza where a large ice chateau rose precariously over the royal settlement. Leave it to IceWings to make everything so extra.

We landed at the gates to the structure.

"Where are we going?" I asked them.

"We have to take you to our officer," the younger one said. The larger one gave him a small nip to the nape of his neck.

"We don't know if she can be trusted yet! Hush!" He whispered to the younger one angrily. The young Dragon looked down ashamed. The large one turned back to me.

"Keep moving, its large here." He wasn't lying. I don't know how long we walked, but I couldn't help but gawk at the beauty of the palace, but also grit my teeth at the sights. They brought back more memories. Horrible ones. I saw a floor clouded with dead dragons, threw haphazardly around as if they were only junk.

We turned a corner, and I nearly gasped aloud. Someone was there. Someone who made me shiver when I saw him.

 _Bay... Baylis..._ I thought, and felt my memories of him flood into me. When he'd brought me to my room, when he explained what I was, or could be, when he let us be taken away.

 _What happened back then, and why can't I remember all of it? Why does it feel like a dream?_

"Why are you here?" He asked, directly at me.

I hesitated, then said, "I.. I want to join the Orokin."

"Gladly. Take her to the branding room."

The two took me away again, into a room with liquid gold around the out side of it. Dragons were around, and many of them. They set my binds on a table, and pulled some of the molten gold out of the depths of the sides using cauldrons. They brought the pot over to my wing.

 _Oh No, this is going to hurt._

They lifted the pot, and poured it over my wings... But I felt no pain.

The gold rolled of my wings. The IceWings gasped.

"She's... a Warframe?!" They whispered to each other.

I felt an arctic cold wash over my body, an indication of my powers. My irises turned a pure white. Frost grow over the straps on my claws, and soon, they shattered into sharp shards, cutting the two close to me. I stood and cracked my neck.

"Well, lets get this over with."


	11. Chapter 11: Blades Dance

**_(Third Person Omniscient)_**

Fret was in his room, lying on his bed, worrying about Flurry's Op and with Lapis scampering across his mind. His feelings felt a little overwhelming, so he used his usual method of distraction: Composition.

He composed his worry, his attractions, his pains, unto the pages, staining them with the sounds describing how he felt. Afterwards, he listened back to it, editing and adding in what he new was important: Crescendos, Decrescendos, Accelerandos, Ritardandos, Accents, Articulations, and many more small detailings that went into the music.

He put his blood, sweat, and soul into his songs; that's why those who listened to them knew how great they were. The time put into them was immeasurable.

Still a little bored, he played they song and began to dance; it looked like the dance needed someone else to be complete. A female specifically.

Fret stopped.

 ** _Do, Re, Me, Fa, So, La, Ti, Do!_**

A small dagger appeared on Fret's side after the scale had been completed.

 _What the…?_

"And what're you doing?" A voice spoke from the door.

Fret jumped and swiveled towards the door to Lapis standing there.

"How… how long have you been there?!" Fret asked.

"Long enough." She walked in slowly, and Fret became a little embarrassed.

"How'd you get that dagger?" She asked. It was a deep black, with designs of music notes on them, in a rich deep purple.

 _Same color as his eyes…_ Lapis thought.

"Well…" Fret began, "After I danced it was forged. Maybe the dance is related to the weapons?" Fret offered. "I have an idea." He said, and put his hand out to Lapis.

He eyes widened. "You… you want me to dance…?" she started.

He nodded, and added nervously, "With me, as my partner."

 _How can I say no?_ Lapis thought, then took his talon in his slowly.

Fret's music began to play; it sounded like a wedding ballad.

The pit of the music began to play, Marimbas, Xylophones, Celestes, and Vibraphones. The melody was quiet and soothing, with a clear heartfelt undertone. Lapis and Fret took positions away from each other.

Fret walked slowly forward, the Brass and Winds of the music played softly, crescendoing up and down musically. As Fret reached halfway, a trumpet solo played, smooth and Legato, with no harshness in it.

Fret stopped, and Lapis began her walk. The melody began to move, changing from its smoothness to dolce.

French horns and Mellophones played a flowing melody as Lapis stopped looking up at Fret, and grabbing his claws. They smiled at each other, as the music got louder, and slowed down, seemingly waiting.

 _I want this… this… feeling. I don't want it to go away,_ They both thought.

They began to waltz, and the melody became almost Maestoso, explosively accented, but still kept its lovingness and tenderness in the song. Fret spun Lapis by her claw outward, then pulled her back in, making them very close to each other.

Fret picked up Lapis and spun her around once before putting her down. The Mellophones played a quick solo like run. Lapis pulled Fret in close as the music got louder than it ever had before, putting her head on his chest, close to his heart. She could hear its rhythmic beats pulsing in her ears. The music seemed to respond, as a bass drum bumped in time with his heartbeats.

One last chord played, Loud and explosive, and the song was over.

They didn't move for a while, just standing there, in their loving embrace.

"Didn't know you could do all that Fret." She said, smiling up at him.

"Same to you." he replied.

The choir sung again, and this time, a scythe appeared.

"That's ironic." Lapis said, investigating the weapon. It was still the black steel decorated with the sunburst of music notes.

"So the more complex the dance…" Fret began.

"... the better the weapon." She finished.

He took it off his back and brandished it, liking its size and weight.

"Thanks Lapis," He said, grabbing her talon.

"No, thank you Fret, for our," she blushed slightly, " little performance?"

"You welcome, always." Fret said, smiling.

She dropped his talons and walked to the door, and thoughts rushed to both of them.

 _Uhh! I just resist him no matter how I try! He just to attractive! Do I… like him? Does he like me?_ Lapis thought.

 _She danced better than I thought. Where'd she learn all of that?_ Fret pondered. _Was that… Attraction I felt as we danced? What does she think?_

Head worse than it was when he started, he retreated to his room, relaxed and tense all at once.


	12. Chapter 12: The War Within

(Flurry's Pov)  
Adrenaline flooded through me as I forged by sword of Ice, and awaited my attackers. I counted quickly.

 _At least 50 to 1. Worst odds I've had._

A deep blue IceWing charged at me first, and I cut his throat swiftly, deftly. I shivered as the dragon reached for its throat, then limply fell to the floor.  
The others looked on in shock.  
"But… how?! How'd they find us?" One said.

Some had ran out of the room at the sight of the blue blood dripping down their comrades neck.  
I spoke.

"Now we can do this the easy way, or the hard way. Your choice."

They all attacked me at once, crushing me under the weight. I felt the ice creep over my body, and knew one of my powers was coming. I hadn't fully learned to control them yet. The air around me turned sub-zero, making a dome of translucent ice-mist around me. The IceWings inside were forced out. It only perturbed them for a moment before the rush at me again. As they entered, they began to grow frost over them. The others caught notice, and attacked the dome, trying to break it. With their numbers, it didn't last long. It shattered and disintegrated. I cursed

They did not relent. Their numbers increased steadily. That Ice crept up along my body once again, but this time, I feared my own power. My body went purely numb. I didn't want _that_ power to come out. It was too dangerous, to destructive.  
A large circular blizzard whipped up around me. I tried to fight the power, but I couldn't. It was too strong. A viral frost grow along my body. The IceWings around tried to run in fear, but any IceWings currently in the circle's legs were frozen. They cried aloud, trying to break the ice, fear on their faces.

"No...Not this!" I pleaded  
The viral frost grew rapidly along the dragons body, and soon, they were frozen solid. I felt weak as my natural talents took over. My arm flung left, and ice spikes grew along mt body, and when my arms flung right... the IceWings were obliterated, annihilated, broken into tiny Ice Shards. My body hurt. I looked at myself: My wings cut deeply; my body raked and cut with my own blood oozing out of me. I'd been so in the moment I hadn't felt these injuries. As my own blood touched my talons, my senses brightened. I felt severe pain, but had a severe level of focus.

The dome had broken up the ranks of the IceWings. I took the moment to run.

"Get her!" One cried. Some of the IceWings didn't move, but others moved fearlessly.

I passed over into a large hallway, with the statue of a warrior cutting down enemies.

 _I need to find intel, anything to make up for this trip.  
_  
The IceWings kept up with me, and I was forced to run faster and harder. I found a room and dove into it quickly. It was a large book decorated room, labeled _Docs room.  
_  
Perfect.

I ran inside and barricaded the door with heavy, clear ice. I turned and saw tall bookshelves, and many cabinets arranged from A-Z. Above me was a large window. I began to search.

I heard loud bangs outside, the ice holding them back. My heart raced. I rummaged through almost all of the cabinets, and one sheet I found caught my attention.

 _ **Innocent children, once akin,**_

 _ **Scarred by Void, born again,**_

 _ **Their demon-like powers now fully contained,**_

 _ **In a vessel of War to keep them sustained.**_

 _ **Live where they scarred, scarred where they reside,**_

 _ **Its razing energy, a burning palace side, consuming until satisfied.**_

 _ **The Tenno sleep inside this nest,**_

 _ **A Second Dream, a eternal rest.**_

 _ **Are the Tenno bloodthirsty, wrathful barbarians?**_

 _ **Or are they simply radical humanitarians?**_

 _ **Their true colors are hidden away,**_

 _ **Until they reunite on The Fated Day.**_

 _ **A Maestro with tail dotted in jet,**_

 _ **A Universal Seawing with a nebulous set,**_

 _ **A pair of opposites that surround a horizon,**_

 _ **Scales of Steel this Mudwing lies in,**_

 _ **A RainWing who questions reality,**_

 _ **And she who changes one's mental corporeality.**_

 _ **None of this is sure,**_

 _ **And it is currently obscure,**_

 _ **How the children will react,**_

 _ **When they find themselves.**_

 _ **Are War Without,**_

 _ **A War Within,**_

 _ **Who shall Lose?**_

 _ **Who shall Win?**_

I didn't have time to read it, so I grabbed it and kept moving. I found a map and some schematics, and as I grabbed one last paper, the ice wall broke. I spoke to them boldly.

"You have seen but a taste of Warframe power," I said, trying to have my voice waver. "You've tortured innocent souls beyond repair, and you expect impunity?!" I turned and smiled at them, almost demonically.

"There's something you must learn about us. When you attack us Frames of War," I spread my wings, "...there is no impunity. We will have our revenge."

Before they could react, I took off, my heavy wounds weighing me down.

 ** _(Sunset's Pov)_**

Me and Sunrise trained against each other all the day. They day against the night; the light against darkness. We'd just finished as we talked.

"Don't you think it's weird?" He started, "that were technically in love with myself?"

I sat close to him, his scales cold, but not freezing.

"I guess we are. Well if I had to fall in love with someone as my other half, I can't think if anyone but you." I said, genuinely

"Really?" He asked, nervously.

"Yeah." I said, confidently.

He hugged me lightly.

"Our bond is what makes us strong." He said into our ear. "Let's make our bond as deep as possible. We can't be weak Sunset. I counter you, and you counter me. I want us to blend. To…"

A dragon fell from the sky. She was clearly wounded.

"Flurry!" We cried. Her body covered in blood, hers and others.

She smiled. "You all owe me. I'm never going on another Op."

She lie there still, the life gone from her body. Sunrise picked her up. "We need to get her to Lapis!" he cried. I nodded.

We ran over to her on swift wings. She saw her, and knew exactly what we needed. We took the intel off of her, then threw her into the sea. When she arose, she looked better than she did before she left. Strangely, she looked ghostly white.

"You okay?" I asked her after she got out of the water

She snapped out of her trance. "Yeah, I... I'm fine."

"So, whatcha got?" I asked eagerly.

"Gather the others, I want to show you all at once."

"Why?"

"Because," she said, "This changes everything."


	13. Chapter 13: Question Reality

_**(Fret's POV.)**_

Lapis had gathered us again in what I began to call the _Ops_ room. It was the same room Flurry had been deployed from. I took my seat, and waited for them to come in. Mirage, Sunset, Sunrise, Nox and Terra were already there. Outside, the son had just kissed the horizon, making a beautiful purplish twilight.

"So, Flurry is back from her excursion?" I asked.

"Yes," Sunset answered, "but she was heavily wounded. Lapis took her to the ocean just outside and healed her up, but it goes to show you: sure, you're powerful, but death still stalks you silently, ready to envelop you anytime Fret."

"O-Okay… th-thanks for that." I stammered. I understood her, but her sentence was strangely worded.

Lapis and Flurry both entered at the same time; Lapis looked almost vexed, and Flurry looked cool and collected.

"I've found something." Flurry began.

"We know that, we're waiting for you to tell us what it is." Terra said, obnoxiously.

"Here," Lapis said, throwing a small paper folded up unto the stone engraved table. It was clearly papyrus.

I unfolded it, and read it aloud. It looked like a prophecy.

After I was done, everyone, save Lapis and Flurry looked shocked.

"What could that!- but that makes no?!- what're we to…" I heard the others cacophonously speak.

"Stop!" I cried. "Take it slow. Line-by-line, Stanza-by-Stanza."

I read the beginning.

"Innocent children, once akin,

Scarred by Void, born again,

Their demon-like powers now fully contained,

In a vessel of War to keep them sustained."

"We kinda already knew that." Nox said.

"Well," I argued, "It does tell us why the Orokin put us in these… "Vessels" as the poem states. We were dangerous before, we are demons to them."

"But why'd they take us away?" Mirage asked, turning a deep purplish-bluish-yellow. "What did we ever do to them? I'm a RainWing! Like I'd hurt anything back then."

"Yet you'd kill now, correct," I said, more of a statement than a question.

He turned a derisive red at my ridicule.

"What does it mean by 'born again?'" Sunrise asked and stated all at once, "like, did the old us die so we could be reborn?"

The room grew silent with thought.

"I hope not." Sunset said. "Read the next line."

I nodded and did what I was told.

"Live where they scarred, scarred where they reside,

Its razing energy, a burning palace side, consuming until satisfied.

The Tenno sleep inside this nest,

A Second Dream, a eternal rest."

"That's the one we need to look at." Lapis' smooth voice said, with a hint of inquisitiveness.

"I think it's saying that our old selves reside in the Ice Kingdom, since that's where we 'resided.'"

"Couldn't that also be us, right here? It does say 'Live where they scarred." I spitballed.

Lapis looked thoughtfully at me. "We can interpret this thing billions of ways. Until "The Fated Day," we have no clue what is right from what is wrong."

We looked at her, clearly confuzzled. Lapis waved us off, "It shall be explained later; continue reading Fret." My acute ears caught the little lift in her voice when she said my name. I looked down, and read.

"Are the Tenno bloodthirsty, wrathful barbarians?

Or are they simply radical humanitarians?

Their true colors are hidden away,

Until they reunite on The Fated Day."

That line didn't help the confusion very much.

"Reread it." Nox commanded, I did so, then spoke.

"So… according to this, either we're good or evil, and we won't know until this strange 'Fated Day'; was that what you meant Lapis?" She nodded.

Terra cocked his head to the side. "Are we good or bad?"

Mirage looked at him. "That all depends on perspective. Just like my powers, looks are deceiving. Maybe we are evil, and the Orokin simply made us to help destroy everything. May-"

"Enough!" Me and Lapis cried.

"Don't speak like that! We uphold the good in the World!" Lapis said; the unasked question hung in the dead air: _Don't We?!_

"How do we know?" Sunrise said.

"We can't," Her counterpart answered, "Maybe we are darkness, and the Orokin the light."

"Or Vice Versa." Sunset said derisively.

"Well…." I said at length, "We can't put a hundred percent answer on that so let's just move on." I could feel the almost political crevice that had open between us. They argued, but agreed.

"A Maestro with tail dotted in jet,

A Universal Seawing with a nebulous set,

A pair of opposites that surround a horizon,

Scales of Steel this Mudwing lies in,

A RainWing who questions reality,

And she who changes one's mental corporeality."

It was quiet after that. "That's self-explanatory. It focuses the prophecy around us specifically." I explained.

The discomforting silence in the room grew louder, and louder still. No one would speak, and the silence grew mocking, ridiculing even. Going mad, I broke the silence.

None of this is sure,

And it is currently obscure,

How the children will react,

When they find themselves.

Are War Without,

A War Within,

Who shall Lose?

Who shall Win?"

"The first part… is that 'The Fated Day?' The day we find ourselves?" Nox asked.

I nodded in agreement. "That'd make sense."

"Well who is the 'they?'" Terra asked, "Who says that's us?"

"That just makes more sense." Lapis said, "It's more logical that its us finding ourselves literally, not metaphorically."

"Just because it's more logical, doesn't mean it's true," the MudWing spat, scowling. "Learned that from The Dragonet Prophecy."

The two began to argue. Again.

"Listen!" I cried heatedly, "It's stated in the line itself. 'The children.' That's us, has to be." The question still hung in my head: _Is it though? The children could be anyone._

Terra clearly wanted to rebel, but he held his tongue.

"And the last line- A War within and Without- what's that mean?" Mirage inquivised.

I shrugged, "Couldn't tell you," I lied.

 _It means a War on two fronts; like, inside and outside the Ice Kingdom? Or… Inside of us?_

"The problem here is we know too little. We've had too little time. All we need to do is keep this in the back of our minds, and refer to it later." Lapis almost ordered.

I nodded, and all of us, even reluctant Terra, followed suite.

"Y'all can go- we're done here."

We all slowly filed out, that insanity driving silence around us. I hated it. As a musician, I loved sound; to be without it is like an artist without a canvas; like a dragon without it's fire or ice or venom. It's what made me, me.

A blue talon grabbed me by the shoulder; I recognized it instantly.

"Thanks for having my back, Fret." She said.

"Its nothing. That's just how I felt about it."

She smiled, just a little, but said nothing. She turned and walked away silently. I wanted to call for her, but I hesitated too long. She rounded the bend, and was gone like the wind.

I entered my room, and peeked out the window. It was deep night now, the moon rising overhead. I flew out, and landed on one of the many isles. I gazed into the void of space as it gazed unto me. It amazed me, feeling like it called me.

 _It is Fret, It is…_

I jumped, frightened.

 _Who the he-_ I started.

 _I will guide you, If you let me_. The voice said weakly, but it was female.

 _Who are you!_ I screamed in my mind.

 _I cannot tell you, not… not yet…_

 _Why not?_ I asked.

And waited.

 _And waited_.

 ** _And waited._**

After a while I realized the voice had left. I thought I was going insane. Hallucinations of others haunting me. Scared, shaken up, and (going) insane, I flew up to my room and slept.

I awoke thinking.

 _What is up with me? Why'd all that happen last night?_

I sat up, and nearly fainted.

A dragon was there: colorful, but still my tribe. Tattooed like me, but hers flowed and moved, looking like a rainbow river.

I gasped, "Y-you were the voice?"

"Your asking who I am?"

I nodded.

She smiled. "Octavia, your guide, and the first Warframe."


	14. Chapter 14: Lunaro

_**Chapter Fourteen: Lunaro**_

I stared at Octavia as she spoke.

"Crazy huh? That means you have my power set, you just access that power, not yet."

I still stared blankly, very confused.

"Fret!" a voice I knew all too well said, approaching us.

Octavia walked out into the hall- I followed- and I saw Lapis jump.

"Are you….?" Lapis started.

"Yes, I am the first."

"But, Excalibur was the first!" Lapis refuted. I stood looking stupid as I usually did when they talked about subjects I knew _zero_ about.

"Yes… but no." Octavia responded. Now it was Lapis that looked as confused as me.

Octavia sighed. "I was prototyped first, even before Excalibur. The Orokin made the attachments you wearing now. They're called the…"

"... The Mandachord." I finished, and she nodded.

"However," she said, "We have a problem."

"What's that Octavia?" Lapis inquivised.

She pulled that attachments off of my arms, inspecting them all around. I felt exposed without them. I'd grown accustomed to their presence on me.

"I've been searching for you, you know. These attachments only go to the best musicians of each generation."

Lapis looked at me with a wide-eyed stare.

"So he's…"

"The best of this whole generation!" Octavia said, with accentuation at the end.

I couldn't fathom what she'd said.

 _Better than all the rest? How could that be? I'd made plenty of mistakes. Hadn't I?_

But then I thought back to my family, and what they were so famous for, and I almost slapped myself.

 _My family-line was one of the greatest composers since the last longest. But… is that my real family?- or is it just this… this 'vessels' memories I'm seeing?_

I looked at her wings, than at mine.

"Are we?- related by chance?" I asked her.

"Why yes, we are. I am your…" She thought for a moment. "I'm your aunt."

"Thought so. Everyone in my family is named after something music related, and we all have that music-sheet like wing pattern."

Lapis looked very interested as we spoke. Octavia said, "The Orokin have been at this for longer than you think. I was six when I was taken, now I'm fourteen."

Lapis was clearly doing some math, waving her claw around in the air. "The Orokin have been around for about fifteen years?" Lapis asked.

"Yeah, just about."

"What about the rebellion with Snowfox?" I asked.

"That rebellion is what made the Orokin so large, but they still existed before then." Octavia explained. "You mentioned the notes on your wings; you know what those notes on them mean right?" I shook my head. Octavia hesitated. "They… they tell a story about one's life. The goods and the bads of their life. Like… a musical summary, if you will."

"Really?" Me and Lapis asked.

"Yes, It was enchanted to us long ago, around Darkstalker's time. Would you like to hear yours Fret?"

We (me and Lapis,) nodded.

She reached for my wings, and the notes on them glowed Purple. A orange bar ran across them, clearly showing where we were in the music. The music played, every so often scrolling along.

 **((Annotation: I actually composed the music on his wings! Here is the URL to the song they hear:** **scores/view/66a883a25de4de30a4d98db77e4be64b646e4bbc**

 **(You'll need to copy this into your Url bar at the top of your search engine, then search it.)**

 **Ok? BACK TO THE STORY!))**

When we were done, I couldn't speak.

"Take that, for whatever worth you want to." She said. "Anyways, back to the attachments. They're damaged."

"Damaged how?

"The… Hmm….The Fret, String, and bridge are removed. But that's nothing to fret about Fret."

Lapis and I chuckled at what she'd said.

"So, can we fix them?" Lapis asked, more like a statement than a question.

"Yes, we just need to find the parts. Give me a day or two to triangulate their locations."

"Well in that case… We need to go Fret." Lapis grabbed my talon, and pulled me out into the the hall.

"To where?" I asked.

She smiled at me. "We're playing Lunaro today. C'mon!" She said, heading towards the exit. I started following her, when a ball of purple energy slammed into my chest, knocking me down. I grabbed my head in pain, and slowly sat up. Without my attachments, everything felt just *that* much worse. I felt weak and plain.

 _Sorry… Underestimated my strength. I'll stay in this energy form to commune with you for now. I'll alert you when I've found the parts._ Octavia said from my own mind.

 _Ugh… Thanks, I guess._

I got up slowly, and followed Lapis to the arena.

I landed in the Lunaro arena. It was a stone oval, with a blue goal on on one side, labeled: _Team Moon,_ and a orange one one other side, labeled: _Team Sun._ A little away from each of the goals was a silver line, and just behind that was a circular dispenser. The arena was decorated lightly in golden trimmings and scaffolding. I saw Sunrise and Sunset practicing on opposite teams, each the one of their namesake.

"Woah…" was all I could think to muster.

"Ready to play?" Lapis said, snaking around me, causing a soft friction among our bodies.

"Sure." I replied. She handed me what I could only describe a large hooked scoop. I attached it to my arm like hers was.

"It's your Arcata, it holds the Lunaro."

"Before you keep going, explain please?" I almost begged her.

"Alright," she took a deep breath. "I ball is the Lunaro. The objective is, obviously, to score more points than the enemy team by shooting the Lunaro into the goals. Powers are forbidden. A dragon cannot hold the Lunaro for more than 5 seconds, or it will explode in their Arcata."

"Wait, you're kidding, right?!" I asked.

"Nope look." She grabbed the ball and held it. It pulsed once, twice, thrice, then exploded with energy, forcefully mind you, forcing Lapis unto the ground as it flew out of her Arcata into the air. Sunset swiped it up, and she and Sunrise continued their game. I pulled her unto her talons again.

"Thanks," she said.

"Ok, keep going." I said. She explained the rest of the rules, and we assigned teams.

I was me, Lapis, Sunrise, and Nox on Team Sun, and Sunset, Flurry, Terra, and Mirage of Team Moon.

We took our sides. A loud horn sounded.

 ** _"3!-2!-1!-Lunaro!"_** The others said; the Lunaro flew out, and the game began.


	15. Chapter 15: Disconnection

**_Chapter Fifteen: Disconnection_**

 ** _(Lapis' Pov.)_**

I looked up the open sky high above the arena, and inhaled deeply. The copper sun had just kissed the horizon. I heard the others count off.

 _Here we go._

 ** _"3!-2!-1!-Lunaro!"_**

We all leapt for the ball as it shot up, and a small scuffle ensued. One of us would get possession, only to be checked a half second later.

Fret got possession, and cleared the Lunaro. It flew forcefully, and landed inside of Team moon's goal arc.

Terra picked it up quickly. I, with an almost hellish strength, knocked Terra flat on his, back; I smiled as the MudWing looked up at me we disbelief. The Lunaro pulsed once, warning me of its detonation time.

I knew I couldn't fly, or the Lunaro would fall out of my Arcata, so I passed it to Nox who was beyond the arc. She dodged Mirage's check, and took the open shot…

 _"Goal!" She cried!_

 _2-0, Team Sun._

The Lunaro disappeared, and the Goal erupted in fire. Moments later, the ball reappeared in front of their goal. We regroup in our side of the field, ready to play defense.

"Good shoot Nox," I told her.

"Keep up that passing," she responded.

Team Moon advanced, passing frequently. The Lunaro was a blur. From, Sunset, to Terra, Mirage, then to Flurry. Defense was tough. Their frequent passing made it nigh impossible to get an interception. Terra got a hold on it, and glared at me with eyes made of dragonbite viper venom.

Here, my fatal flaw caught me off guard. Here that my pride distracted me. I should have been more attentive, should've seen Fret stop so suddenly, so frighteningly; should have heard the wingbeats approaching; I was the to blame for the fall of our band from grace. Here my hubric pride put a veil over my eyes, and all I saw was the want to win, to succeed. I had a love for all of them… a love for him, but my actions defiled that love, and made said love tainted, marred, and unworthy for those of this caliber. I could have saved them, with just a flick of the wrist, literally, and metaphorically.

I suppose I sound like a mad dragon to you, and I know you ask: Well? What happened?

Terra's stare bored into my soul. I checked him again, and the Lunaro flew into my hands. As I prepared to throw, a bone chilling voice, one that seemed so familiar yet so alien, spoke. The Lunaro stopped pulsing.

"What a band you've constructed, Aquifer. Truly kin to gold."

We all looked up, and we all shivered as well. Up high above the Lunaro arena was a cream white IceWing, with a golden tattoo along the underside of his chest and wings, glittering in the silvery moon. It was a tattoo of two warriors fighting, with one, (clearly an IceWing,) prevailing. He looked menacing, a full moon hanging behind him, veiling most of his details except his tattoo. Other IceWings flew behind him.

As he said my real name, I flinched, just slightly, but it was clear he noticed.

"What do you want, Orokin?" I said. If a tone of voice could kill, that tone would have killed every dragon on the continent.

"Oh, that's not the way to talk to your conceptor. You, Nyx, and that boy-toy of yours have become a real pain in my side, along with your little band." He said 'band' as if it were dirt.

"So…" he continued casually, "I've decided to end you three. Buh-Bye!"

The Lunaro pulsed in my hand, its energy a royal purple. Once, Twice….

I scanned the looks of the dragons around me, then I realized.

Me, Fret, and Nox… We were all mere feet away from each other.

"Lapis!" Fret exclaimed at me, "Throw it! Quick!"

The ball pulsed once more, its detonation imminent. I was frozen, more frozen than the Ice Kingdom.

Fret leapt at me, trying to push me away; Nox dove away…

But the actions were futile. The detonation caught us all in mid-action. I, being the closest, took the brunt of the blast. Fret and Nox were slightly farther away, and seemed safe.

The blasted forcefully knocked me away, me had smashed against the stone wall of the arena, and my world went an inky black.

 ** _(Fret's Pov, Unknown Time later.)_**

Slowly, I regained consciousness. Emotions rushed through me. Confusion?- check, anger?- check, sadness?- double check.

 _Fret! Fret!_ Octavia called for me.

 _I'm fine Octavia._

 _Oh, I thought I lost you._

I felt a pain in my chest, and looking down, a heavy stone brick had fallen right on my ribs.

 _Better there than anywhere else,_ I thought.

I forged the scythe I had made two days ago again. With a swift chop, the brick split in two, and slid of my chest.

I stood completely, and my brain screamed pain, pain, and more pain. Shrapnel from the exploded Lunaro had embedded itself into my tender flesh, skin, and wing membranes.

I looked around, and finally saw the scope of immolation around me: The arena had frankly collapsed from the explosion. Bricks that made the arena had fallen around, and fires raged wildly around.

I coughed, then called, "Anyone?! Lapis!" Only the warm draft of wind seemed to respond.

Fear swallowed me, for I feared for Lapis' sake. I searched frantically for her, for anyone.

 _Please, please don't be dead…_

I found her. She looked wounded, but I could see her chest rise and fall. _Thank the moons._

I dug out the rubble around her, finally freeing her of her stone prison.

"Lapis. I need you to wake up." She stirred at my voice, but didn't wake.

 _Try a song,_ Octavia suggested.

I made a song on the spot, thinking about waking someone or thing up.

Lapis finally awoke as the song ended. As she moved she cried in pain, clutching her side.

"Don't overexert yourself Lapis, you're hurt, badly." She nodded.

I carefully removed her talon, and investigated her wound. Imagine a bright sky full of stars, now imagine a reddish black nebula splitting the night in half; that is how her scales looked, burned, scarred, razed.

"Get on my back," I suggested. "I can carry you." She nodded again.

I grabbed her claw, and counted down. I pulled her up, with a shriek of protest from her. She was heavy, but I managed to lift her. Now up, she rested herself between my shoulderblades, and wrapped her claws around neck for grip. I felt her tail tighten around my own carefully, as to not cut herself.

"You okay up there?" I asked.

"...Y-yes," she replied, but it was a reply full of pain, and said pain gave my body power forged from anger and hatred. I stalked heavily around the arena, looking for Nox.

"T-there!"Lapis whispered to me. In a mound of rubble, close to the goal, was Nox's body. She was moving, and trying to move the rubble away from her. I set Lapis down lightly.

"I won't forget you." I whispered to her. I saw tears in her eyes as she looked up at me.

I ran over to Nox, and started pulling bricks of stone and granite off of her. Soon, she was freed. Her wounds looked similar to mine.

Her face was stricken. "I can't… I can't sense any of the others."

"Their… their minds, you mean?" I asked; she nodded in response.

 _Octavia,_ I thought, _what happened while we were out?_

I felt energy pulling my chest, and Octavia manifested in front of me.

"Orokin and his IceWings destroyed the islands, and captured Mirage, Sunrise, Sunset, and Terra. Flurry escaped fast enough."

The gravity hit me then. _Orokin has them under lock and key then._ "Where are they, and how'd they find us?"

"They must've traced Flurry back here." Octavia placed her talon on my shoulder. "I know what you're thinking, Fret, but a rescue is currently out of the question. We're too weak. We need to wait, and strike when we can. We already have the element of surprise; Orokin suspects you three are dead. And you should be rightfully so."

"Why should we be dead?" Lapis asked, sitting up a little.

"Orokin supercharged the Lunaro, and, with how close y'all were, the energy should have mortally wounded you." She turned to me. "But Fret saved you all."

"How?" we asked.

"Fret used one of his powers right before the explosion happened. It gave y'all armor, just enough so that the explosion couldn't kill, understand?" Octavia explained.

"What power was it?" Nox asked.

"Metronome. He casted it accidentally, but It saved you nonetheless."

I felt full of pride, but I quickly let it fade so I could focus.

"What do we do now?" Lapis asked, burying her head in her chest. I walked over to her, and realized she was crying.

"This is all my fault," she said between sobs, "I could've thrown it away, I could've moved." I stopped beside her, my wing around her comfortingly.

"It's not all on you Lapis. It's on all of us. We all failed in some way."

She looked up at me, her deep blue eyes gazed unto my purple ones. I picked her up slowly, and placed her unto my back again.

"They're things we could've done. This we should've done. But the fact is Lapis, the moment for choice is gone now, and we must live with the consequences." She fell silent, merely resting her head upon my shoulder.

Octavia spoke. "We need to make a new base, perhaps in the Rainforest Kingdom. The canopy of trees will cover us there. Remember, we need to keep the element of surprise in our favor as long as possible. Ready to go?"

As she asked that, my heart sank. This place, where I'd finally found others like me, where I'd finally felt accepted, and now I had to leave it all behind.

"Sure." I sighed, "let's go."

I lifted off towards somewhere new.

 _((Lapis' Pov))_

Cold water caressed my body. I focused, and felt my burns go away, but the pain felt as strong as ever. I surfaced, and ran right into that handsome SandWing. We'd flown to the Rainforest, and he'd carried me to a small reservoir of water. His scales looked smooth now, like they had when I first saw him.

"Pain still there?" He asked.

"A little, but the pain is still so great. Must be an internal wound." I told him.

"May I?" He asked nervously, gesturing to my chest.

"Oh, sure." He poked around my ribs gingerly, looking for fractures in the bones. He pressed slightly left of the the center of my chest, and I moaned in pain.

"Found it. Three ribs are damaged, two of them cracked, on broken. You can't heal that?" He inquired.

"No, I can't heal deep wounds, like organ damage or broken bones, only surface wounds."

"That sucks. Can you fly?"

I started flapping my wings, water splashing around me, and soon, I was up in the air. I flew a full circuit, exercising my wings, before dive bombing straight into Fret. After we surfaced all we could do was laugh. Even with everything going on with the others capture, he made me laugh. We climbed out of the water, and I felt a warm breeze on my scales. It was coming from him. I kept fighting myself, fighting my thoughts, but deep in my heart, I knew it was true.

 _I like him, genuinely. I have affection for him. Does he have the same for me?_

His voice snapped me out of my thoughts. "C'mon, let's head back, we got a long day tomorrow.

I nodded and flew with him, and found myself staying close to his scales. A thought hit me.

 _I'll tell him, soon, when I'm ready._


	16. Chapter 16: Trapped

_**Chapter 16: Trapped**_

((Sunset's Pov))

I don't know when I awoke. Well, 'awoke' is the wrong word. I was conscious, but I couldn't open my eyes. I felt like I was perpetually falling, and my wings wouldn't catch me. I tried to imagine opening my eyes and sitting up, but it failed, and I kept falling.

I don't know how long I was in what I could only call a dream for. But finally, I awoke. I was in a metallic room. Behind me was a doorframe, but it was tightly sealed. The room looked like it was made for me. The room was dark, with a small shade of orange light at the other side, just like my namesake. I felt cold; pure ice was under my claws. I shivered violently. My vision was blurred. I felt weak, as if my body had no muscle.

 _What happened to me? Why do I feel powerless?_

Slowly my vision cleared up, and I could see a metal band upon my wrist. Inside it was a Sardonyx gem. As I saw it, memories flashed to me. I saw a SeaWing, fading in and out. Then a band was placed on her, and it stopped. The bands looked nigh identical.

I looked up, and strained to see to the other side. I made out a familiar figure at the other end. He was emitting the soft glow that defied my darknesses reign.

 _Sunrise!_ My heart fluttered. He had on a band like me.

He looked up at me. I ran at him, crying out his name, readying my embrace. As we approached, a forcefield of sorts stopped me from getting any closer. I pushed as hard as I could, but couldn't budge it.

I put my talon to the field, and he followed suit.

 _Sunrise_ , I thought to him sadly, _What happened?_

His amber eyes bored into mine. _We were captured._

 _By the Orokin?_ He nodded.

I sat down slowly, and burrowed my head into my chest. _What're we going to do? We'll never get out of here._

Sunrise sat as close to me as he could. _Sunset, we can't think that way. We need to look around when we can, and scout for an escape route._

I couldn't look at him. _Sunrise, I'm the Night, and you're the Day. We will always contrast each other, you know this._

He looked down. _I know, but even with that, you must try to open minded, like the day._

I shook my head. _The Night cannot fathom the day. It cannot understand light, only darkness._

He moved his talon dismissively. _All of this is irrelevant. We have to focus on getting out of here._

 _So what's you plan, hot-shot?_ I said to him a little derisively.

 _Two words: We wait._ And so we did. We stayed there as close as we could be to each other, waiting for someone to come.

I'd lost track of time, but a while later the door to the room unsealed. Me and Sunrise jumped.

"...I'll check on them now!" the IceWing said, entering the room. The door shut behind him. Me and Sunrise glared at him.

"Why are you here?" I questioned him.

"Shh!" He ejaculated at me, "I'm here to help you." I sensed something off about him. His stare was blank, as if I wasn't real. His scales look almost translucent; as if her were a ghost. In his ears were a pair of earrings that depicted two crossing daggers. Energy radiated from him, energy I'd only felt when I was around the others in our band.

My eyes widened. "Are you a…"

"Yes, I am." His form shifted and broke; I couldn't see him, and his body was invisible. "I was captured, just as you were, but I managed to kill my captor, and disguise myself as him. I'm Loki, the other trickster."

"I thought Mirage was a trickster?" Sunrise and I asked quietly.

"He is, but he has a different style of trickery than me. For example, he can't go invisible." He reappeared close to me, and I jumped. As quick as he arrived, he left again.

"They're more Warframes than just you all in this outpost. I've contacted all of them, and we're planning one big breakout at once. You two up for it?"

Me and Sunrise nodded.

"Good. Tomorrow, someone will take you out of your cell. Who, I can't tell you." He gestured to his earrings. "You can always identify me by these earrings."

"Levo!" A cry was uttered through the walls, and Loki tensed. He revealed himself, and quickly re-disguised himself as that ghost-like figure.

"I have to go, or they'll get to suspicious. I'll keep in touch with you, promised."

And with that he left us alone in the cell.

((Fret's Pov.))

I woke up slowly, my mind still not quite adjusted to my oh so foreign surroundings. I leaned up in the hammock I slept in, and peered across the way at Lapis, sleeping peacefully. We'd made a treehouse in the Rainforest.

"It'll camouflage us," Lapis had said, "Orokin will have a harder time finding us this time."

 _Best not to wake her,_ I thought. I stood in the treehouse's oblong shaped room, peering at the small belongings we'd been able to recover: Lapis' daggers, a few undamaged swords, and my mandachord, setting ever so peacefully. I felt the mandachord pulling at me, calling for me, _wanting_ me, _needing_ me. I strode over to them and picked them up. They snapped back into place, right on my forearms.

I crept outside, slowly, with deliberation in every step I took. I leaned out of the leaf curtain we'd used to disguise our home of greenery. After knowing I was clear, I took off, winging it towards the lake, slowly, for I was not used to flying in such a dense space. I didn't fly any higher than the canopy of trees above me.

 _I see you're awake,_ a voice chimed within me.

 _Hey Octavia,_ I replied. _Have you found those parts yet?_

She paused for a moment.

 _I have. Strangely, their all in one complex in the outskirts of the Ice Kingdom. You'll need to infiltrate, find all three parts, and exfil._

 _Sounds like a mission,_ I thought to her, energetically.

 _It is, your first time 'in the field' as we say. Once the mandachord is fully reassembled, you'll be able to access some of your powers… that is, if it deems you worthy of them yet._

 _What do you mean?_

 _Simple,_ She said as if I was an idiot, _the mandachord has its own will. It can deny you if it feels that you are too weak. As the mandachord binds to you your Affinity with it grows, as will your powers._ She paused for a moment. _You are special Fret. You are the last and only of your kind. The only one who weaves a song of devastating immolation. You are invaluable. You are needed._

 _What about you?_ I asked, _you are one of me as well, right?_

 _I am, but my existence is bound to the mandachord's. It it is destroyed, my body and soul is as well. We have mutual need, Fret. I need you to survive and you need me as your guide._

I couldn't argue with her there. I _did_ need her. I realized how much she had on the line with me. It was all or nothing.

 _Way to make me feel special,_ thought back to her.

 _You must live Fret, for the sake of all of us._

With that, she ended the conversation, much to my displeasure, leaving me only with my thoughts. The lake came into view ahead. Me and Lapis loved its serenity and calmness. I landed beside the waters front, and as I did, they world seemed to go silent. The sharp mating calls of the birds quieted as I stepped my claws into the water.

Despite being a SandWing, I loved feeling cold. It was foreign to me, and I adored it. I took a deep breath, and submerged myself in the liquid that sustained all life. Shock riddled along my form as the cold grasped me, choking out my heat-producing scales. I shivered slightly, and opened my eyes in the cold water. I swam to the bottom, and did what I did every time I came here: I practiced holding my breath.

20 seconds turned to two minutes, which multiplied into 5. The pressure in my chest was unbearable, and I began to have tunnel vision. I pushed myself towards the surface, my vision fading away…

 _Splash!_

I gasped for air, filling my chest with life. I coughed heavily, and water expunged out of me.

 _Just shy of six minutes,_ Octavia thought to me. _Be careful. Don't push yourself so hard. You nearly passed out there._

 _If I never... push the limit,_ I said, still trying the breathe fully, _I'll never progress, only stay stagnant._

 _A good mentality,_ she agreed, _but know when to pull back._

I pulled myself out of the water weakly and sat at the riverside, still feeble. My heart raced from being so close to death, and I chuckle lightly.

 _Not this time,_ I thought, _gotta be quicker than that._

I rested for a while then flew back to the treehouse, exhilarated and scared all at once.


	17. Chapter 17: Sanctuary

_**Chapter 17: Sanctuary**_

 _Flurry_

I'm a coward.

The explosions in the arena. The strange silence. My heart and mind raced. I didn't know what to do.

So I ran, like the most cowardly dragon, leaving all of the others behind. I thought I heard the guards from the arena calling after me, but I blocked it all out, focused on running away, and that only.

 _Lapis...Terra...Nox...Mirage...Fret...Sunrise and Sunset...I failed all of you…._

Tears stung my eyes, yet I flew on blind wings. I didn't deserve the right of sight, not after how un-honorably I'd escaped. I didn't deserve the others. I thought of how Lapis had stood up to Orokin so boldly. Even in the face of our worst enemy, she had a strength about her, a will to always keep going, even when the world screwed her over.

 _Siphon off her will and add it to your own,_ I thought, pushing myself over the ruthless sea.

Time became nothing, nothing but woeful sorrow. Knowing I'd damned my friends weighed upon my soul. I realized that I had led them there, to all of my allies, and doomed them to capture. My whole being felt heavy, like I was carrying all seven of my friends on my back.

Sea became mud, and mud became trees. Trees became sand, and sand into stone. My wings grew tired and I shuddered to my bones.

I looked up, and saw the large city, Sanctuary, up ahead.. It would be perfect for me.

 _Protection against attacks, and no one will question me…._

I landed in front of its gate, and waited patiently. An dragon as icy as me flew down.

"Winter," I guessed, and the dragon looked at me.

"A new guest?" he said, eyeing me oddly. I nodded. "Follow me."

He spread his wings and took to the sky, going up and over the stone wall of this massive town. As we flew over and saw the city, I gasped; it reminded me of the icy Orokin city I'd seen just days before, but with sand instead of ice. I saw dragons of all tribes. I looked to my left, and saw dragonets playing with one another, their parents looking on happily.

 _Crazy how dragons can be so happy, so calm, when evil lurks._

Winter flew up high, glistening as the sun hit him. We flew to the far back of the civilization, towards a large hotel-apartment buildings. It was multi-floored, and well decorated. The stone upon it shimmered slightly in the sun.

"After you," Winter said, opening the door.

I entered curiously, walking into a small public hub. Around 10 dragons were there, talking casually. Some were joking with each other and laughing haughtily. I looked at ahead to see a clerk working behind a desk. She looked up at me, clearly a hybrid of sorts.

Her desk had a least five books on it. But she looked… strange, almost like a Warframe. She was a deep earthy brown, but her body type was not that of a MudWing. Her horns were so odd. They shined like...glass? This glass was spread around her body: A bracelet on her wrist, what I thought was a armor piece, and a glass earring.

"Who's the new girl?" she asked.

Winter turned back to me.

"Where are my manners- what is your name?"

"Flurry," I responded. "Why did you bring me here?"

"I'll answer that in time." He turned back to the clerk. "Gara **(Annotation: Pronunciation- Gay-ruh),** What floor are our oddities on?"

The hybrid scanned through multiple books, with unnatural speed.

"Hmm...Ah! Floor three, room C24," she said. "Residents: Excalibur and Sunstreak."

"Good." He gestured to me as we walked through the plaza. The were small restaurants and cafes as we walked through the buildings.

"How long did it take to make all of this?" I asked Winter. "All of Sanctuary?"

"Roughly half a year," He responded,

" _Half a year?"_ I repeated, awed. "This city is a least twice as big as possibility! How was is constructed that fast?"

Winter smiled. "We worked our talons off. It was grueling, but we got it done." He looked to his left. "Ah, this way."

Ahead of us was a wide shaft. We entered it, and I looked up. Above me were the upper floors. were the other The outer wall of it was stained glass, with designs that reflected the history of dragons. I could see ancient history of The Scorching to The War of SandWing Succession all the way through what I thought was the newest update: Seven dragons of all tribes surrounding a large NightWing. It was the fall of Darkstalker.

"Whoa, this is so cool!" I exclaimed.

"Yeah," Winter said, proudly. "Turtle and Anemone animus touched the glass. It automatically adds depictions of our history, and any major events. Anyways, let's go upwards to your new room." Winter took flight, and I followed him closely.

It wasn't long when we landed on floor three.

"Flurry, You can handle yourself from here?" Winter asked me.

"Yeah," I replied, confidently. "Room C24 right?"

"Correct. I hope I'll see you again." He smiled at me as he dove back down the shaft.

I walked slowly through the hall thinking about Winter and Gara's conversation.

 _Why'd they'd say oddities? What do they mean?_

Ahead of me was the room I was looking for. I rapped on the door.

 **Rap!-Tap!-Tap!**

A small silence.

Then the door opened, revealing a Hybrid. He was clearly a NightWing frame, but he had IceWing whites and blues in his horns and frills. A long black scar ran from his head to the start of his tail, and around one of his front talons was a Sardonyx bracelet.

"Hello?" He asked tentatively.

"Hey," I said with perfect social skill. "I was told to come here."

"Well, you must be a special then," he told me, and I nodded.

"Another one?" A female voice asked from farther away. I guessed that was Sunstreak, and the dragon in front of me was Excalibur.

"Yeah," Excalibur said. "It's a pure IceWing. Come in...what's your name?"

"Flurry," I said, entering.

"Let me see!" Sunstreak said excitedly. Behind Excalibur was another hybrid. She had a SandWing build- venomous tail and all- with large, SkyWing wings and scales of deep crimson. Around her body were stripes of orange and yellow, thus her name.

"She looks...normal."she continued. "No offence."

"None taken," I replied. "What's so special about you two?"

"The same thing that makes you different," Excalibur chimed in. "I can sense a power about you."

"So you're… _Warframes?"_ I asked, with heavy questioning.

Sunstreak chuckled. "We look like this and you don't think we are? You do know that Warframes stand out in a crowd, right? We were made to be easy to find."

Realization hit me. _That makes sense. Like Nox with her one bent horn, and Fret with his musical wings. We do stand out. But I look normal. Why's that?_

"Huh," I said. "The more you know."

"What happened to you?" Sunstreak asked.

And so I told them everything. How we'd had a clan of sorts on a island in the Bay of a thousand scales, and how Fret had arrived. And how it had all gone to naught.

They were silent for a moment.

"You can stay with us," Excalibur said. "And I'm sure your friends are out there somewhere."

I felt safe, yet sad all at once. And said safety I now knew could go away at a moment's notice.

 ** _I would find my friends again, or die trying._**


	18. Chapter 18: Corroborate

_**((Chapter 18: Corroborate))**_

 _ **Mirage's Pov**_

I woke up, tiredly, as if my body had been sapped of its energy. The Emerald bracelet I looked around at my room. It was full of illusions; they looked real, as if a true corporeal dragon was in front of me. Some of them were of those I knew- Fret, Lapis and, Sunset- and some of them scared me. I saw an illusion of me getting stabbed, cut, decapitated gruesomely.

My head was spinning, I couldn't grip my reality. Even though I could create apparitions myself, I couldn't distinguish what was real and what was duped. My head throbbed in mental agony. Time was not interpretable, nor was space. It was strange. It felt like I was static, and the world was revolving around me. My scales flashed from hue to hue in my bafflement.

 _Where am I? What day is it?_ I thought frantically.

I swung around frantically. An illusion of Lapis hugged me.

"Mirage!" she cried. "Where have you been?! I've been looking for you!"

I was stupefied. I slashed at the illusion. She cried out in pain, a new cut, right across her face. She lurched back, gore dripping off of her. My scales turned dark purple with guilt. I wanted to see her again. I missed was full of disbelief.

"But...why?" she asked pitifully. The Illusion decomposed, turning back into red light. I sat down sadly, my scales a mix of purple and blue, and closed my eyes. A memory came to me.

The Rainforest, a home I never knew. I was smaller, weaker, with all the fragility and innocence of a dragonet. I couldn't hear, couldn't see; my senses were overloaded, and I tunnel visioned

The illusions around me were not fake, but real, and they tailed me, literally. Dragons grabbed at me, lashed, but I eluded. My wings ached with fatigue, and soon, I collapsed from exhaustion unto the soft forest floor. I came back to reality

I focused on myself and my friends and escaping this damnation.

Suddenly, it was quiet. Not just in my head, but all around me. I opened my eyes. The illusions? Gone. The room was now The color of my scales.

A figure appeared in front of me, in what was seemingly a doorway.

"Loki?" I whispered to it. It nodded. "It's been a whole day?"

"Yes, since I last came," he susurrated back to me. He walked up and cuffed me.

"Really?" I said, annoyed.

"Hey, we have to fit in. On the upside, you'll get to see your acquaintances again."

Happiness flooded into me, followed quickly by strife. "Let's get moving then."

"Follow my lead," Loki advised me. "Remember, act like a prisoner." I nodded.

He led me out of my cell gruffly, shoving me forcefully. Outside the cell was bustling with commotion. For a moment I was stunned. It was cold, and my scales ran a cold blue, dappled with reds. The area around seemed high-tech, with what I thought was scanners keeping track of us. Underclaw was a strange see-through metal. Below me was a strangely familiar statue of an IceWing conquering others.

We reached a door, and behind it was what I could only describe as a small battle going on behind it. It quickly grew quiet as a voice cried the word, "Dismissed!" and a quartet of dragons were escorted out, clearly Warframes. One looked shockingly like Nox.

I glanced up the hall to see Sunrise and Sunset, looking absolutely depressed. I realized that they probably hadn't had contact with each other since we got here.

 _And with powers that require you both to be together always,_ I thought, _It must kill them to be apart._

I heard cursing. _Profound_ cursing. Every word in the book- b-word, a-word, f-bomb, you name it. I knew that must be Terra.

I looked up at Sunrise and they seemed happy to see me. It seemed like we were communing with our eyes alone.

" _We'll get out of this,"_ I mouthed to them while their guards were not looking. The seemed to have a new vigor about them not they'd seen me, and I did too.

The door opened. A tall IceWing was there, and his face made me shiver. It was…

"Baylis!" Terra hissed angrily, tossing off his guard and lunging at him. Mark this done as mistake #1.

Baylis whipped out a baton lightning fast. It sparked with electricity. Terra headbutted Baylis (Mistake #2!) for his talon were still behind his back. The baton connected with his neck veins, causing him to cry out in the most blood curdling screech.

Terra must have forgotten to carry a zero or something when he was calculating his battle strategy, as he _totally_ forgot about the other two guards, who quickly subdued him (Mistake #3!). He was thrown with ruthlessness into the cell, and we followed, in pure dumbfounded fashion.

The cell was cleanly dirty, with Baylis' side being more than spic n' span, while ours was dirtier than the Mud kingdom, if that was possible. I felt stickiness under my feet, only to realize I was stepping in dried blood.

"Ah my little ones," Baylis started, "how you've grown! What wide teeth you have! What sharp claws you have! Orokin will be very pleased to see you again!" He laughed haughtily. I wanted to rip his wings off.

"We just need you to answer one question."

"We'll never answer!" We said in unison without thought.

"Wow. You just aren't going to let me ask you first? What rudeness. Anyhow, Where are your three friends? Do you happen to know? By chance? Can you confirm them dead?"

 _Say yes._ Thought I, _Say it, say it, say it._

Terra butted in. "We don't know where they are because you, you know, completely and utterly destroyed, ransacked, trashed, immolated, crushed, dominated, conquered, and captured us. So how would we know?"

As much as I hated Terra (and I did very much), I had to agree with him there. "He's right. We know not where they are, but we can confirm them dead," I said.

"Oh good. Those thorns are finally out of our side. Thank you for cooperating in this corroboration operation. Levo!" Loki stepped forward, bowing. "Wipe their memories."

We all grew scared. We'd never know each other again.

"Yes, my lord," Loki said with loyalty. He pulled out a device. It was long, with a light at the end.

A flash blinded me and… wait, where was I again?

Who am I? Who are these dragons to the left of me?

"Take them to their cells, and keep them there." The random white dragon said. One of his underlings led us outside. As soon as we were outside, he spoke.

"The memory loss is temporary. I tweaked the device. Our plan goes into action now."

I came to back in my cell, my memories back. My name and all. A phrase echoed through my skull.

 _Escape is but a few days away._


	19. Chapter 19

_**((Chapter 19: Reforged))**_

 _ **Lapis**_

I sat up in my hammock tiredly, rubbing my eyes. I fell out of it and arched my back, stretching every tense muscle in my body, whilst a yawn escaped my body. I looked over at Nox still sleeping peacefully. I knew I had to get up and get ready, but I really didn't want to.

 _I wonder where Fret is…_ I thought, seeing his empty hammock across from me. I exited from the treetop only to see yellow wings coming towards me, a warm breeze accompanying it. I shivered at its warmth, _his_ warmth. He landed in front of me and smiled his charming smile. It was a virulent disease, and it spread to my face rapidly.

"Where have you been?" I asked him, stepping forward.

"Just training…" he said. Octavia manifested suddenly.

"...And almost drowning himself," she finished.

"I was getting there." he said, annoyed. His voice was different, almost with a pitch of nervousness in it. Octavia looked at him with a 'Oh, really?' look. "Anyways," Fret continued, "we're leaving today, correct?"

"Yes, as soon as Nox gets up," She said.

I walked over to her and shook her vigorously. A voice entered my head.

 _Don't shake me! Who do you think you are?!_

I was startled. _Nox?_

 _Yes, and what do you want?_

 _You know our mission is today, right?_

She sat up, erect and awake. "I totally forgot!" She jumped out of her hammock, nearly bowling me, Fret, and Octavia over. She hastily ran to the pile of weapons, and threw me and Octavia one of the daggers. We caught it with deft expertise.

Octavia approached the exit to our home. She spread her wings majestically.

"Ready?" she said. We nodded.

We went aloft, gliding along the forestry, swiftly dodging copses of trees. I glanced at Fret. He body evoked something not very Fret-like. His front talons were crossed, and he was scratching at his scales. The usual confidence about him seemed to not be there currently.

"Where are we headed?" I asked.

"Outskirts of the Ice Kingdom; I know the locale," Octavia responded, taking the head of our formation. We were in the shape of the letter V, if it was inverted that is.

"What will happen once I pick up the parts?" Fret asked her.

"I cannot answer that, for I have never encountered a damaged mandachord before." She smiled. "It'll be a learning experience for all of us."

"What if it rejects me?"

I punched Fret lightly. I whispered to him. "I'm starting to think your name has two meanings. You really are paranoid about this, aren't you?"

I knew he wasn't scared. Well, _hopefully_ he wasn't.

His face was flushed, not with embarrassment or love, only pure stress."It's just…all this pressure…it's weighing on me," he whispered, so only I could hear. I'd never thought about it before, but he did have someone to live up to, and she was leading us at the moment.

I wrapped my tail around his slowly, careful to avoid his barb, trying to palliate his disease. He turned his attention to me. We slowed down a little, dragging a little behind in our formation.

"Listen," I said, placing my talon on his shoulder, trying to sound galvanizing and serious, but not harsh. I hoped I did. "The more you worry about the operation, the more your focus wavers. Your greatest asset is your mind; I've witnessed you breakdown a situation into its simplest parts, and tackle each problem on by one." I paused. "Fret, trust your abilities, for you are amazing, even at half strength."

He took in a shaky breath, then exhaled it slowly, like a meditator, as if he was focused. Or was it relief he felt?

"Let's get back to the others," he said, a bit more confidently.

I nodded to him with a smile. "There's my man!"

We caught up with them quickly. Octavia gave Fret a look, like they were talking with there eyes. The held the gaze for a while until Fret nodded and she turned away, with a resolved look about her.

It wasn't long until we reached the Sand Kingdom, flying high above Sanctuary. I looked down at the city below me, and how calm it was, contrasted against the suicide battle I was flying into. I saw an IceWing, who reminded me of Flurry.

 _Where are you Flurry?_ I thought, wistfully, yearning to see her again. My claws rubbed down my chest, my spirit, brushing upon my shattered, broken, and battered ribs; I winced and a deep, but quiet, moan exited me. Fret glanced over, clearly worried for me sake. I prayed I would get out unscathed from this battle, but, like an oracle, I knew this couldn't happen.

We quickly left the isolation of the Kingdom, and the building we needed loomed in the distance. Snow was falling heavily around me, and we abused the whiteout to cover our approach. Piercing cold slashed through my body.

 _What I'd give to be a SandWing or an IceWing…_ I thought, shivering and shaking.

"That's what we're looking for?" I asked, squinting, and she nodded.

"What's the play?" Nox asked.

"Stealth," Octavia and Fret said at once. "We're outnumbered," Fret said.

"We're _always_ outnumbered," I pointed out, "And we usually can win outnumbered battles." I looked up ahead; we were closing in on the fortress, polished stone, smooth granite. It looked like a regular old building, not counting the granite of course. Not something I thought would harbor something of power.

 _Maybe that's the point._

Octavia kneeled down in front of Fret. "What do you think we should do?" she asked, clearly knowing the best strategy already.

"Nox should control the outside guards to keep their focus off of us," Fret strategized. Octavia nodded.

 _Yes! Use your mind Fret!_ I thought.

"Any Intel on the building?" Fret asked.

"The earth beneath the building exists in a state similar to that of the animus tunnels," Octavia explained. "The location that they both exist in is not bound by space. In a sense, this building is its own dimension, and by walking through these dimensions, travel is made much faster."

"So a step down there…" Fret started.

"Is much longer distance here," Nox and I finished.

"Precisely. The parts are scattered around down there, so we may have to separate, though this is not advised." Octavia told us.

"Escape route?" Nox asked.

"There's an exit. It leads out into the Sand Kingdom. If plans go even slightly right, we'll regroup in Sanctuary." She turned to Nox. "Mental Sync please."

"One Sync, coming up!" Nox's talons glowed with a strange pinkish light: Psionic energy. A small glow emanated from me and Fret, and our minds were able to be heard by the other.

 _Can you hear me?_ Fret thought to me, making me jump.

 _Yeah,_ I thought back, _clear as ever._

Nox looked at Octavia, then nodded before creeping into the carnivorous blizzard. We followed her closely, encroaching on the building. Once we close enough Nox began to channel a pink ball of energy.

"Betray your brethren…" I caught her whispering with hollow eyes. I looked up at the guards to see a silhouette of Nox on them; they grabbed their heads for a moment before beginning to fight each other brutally. Claws slashed and blood sprayed. Cacophony ensued.

"Go!" She said, the orb out of her talons, "while they're confused!"

We didn't hesitate. We rushed up there with furious wingbeats, landing on the highest level. We entered hastily. Nyx first, then me, then Fret, and Octavia led up the rear.

"Be careful," Nyx called, as I ran by an IceWing. He turned and lashed at me, missing by a inch.

"I thought they were under your control!" I cried.

"They may be," she said, keeping up with me, coming to my side, "but they will attack anything. Friend or foe."

We hopped off the ledge and landed, right in front of a tremendously deep crevice, with a very, _very_ faint purple glow at the very bottom.

"Is...I-is that the only way in?" I asked, hoping my voice wasn't as puny as it sounded. Octavia's face told me I was right.

My blood ran cold, but not because of this definitely-not-survivable pit.

But because the fighting around us had stopped. I felt almost deafened by the quietness. The IceWIngs stirred, groaning and grabbing their heads again.

"Shoot!" Nyx exclaimed. "The control, its wearing off! We have to go soon, before they get their bearings back!"

Fret peaked over the edge, curiously. "Uh, ladies first?"

I pushed him in, and followed behind him. I heard the others behind me.

The fall was exhilarating. Even as a Warframe I'd never moved this fast. The air whipped past me, rushing through my scales. I was afraid, but I couldn't help but smile as I fell.

The purplish glow below me drew closer, and I had a thought.

 _I could die like this. Peacefully, and instantly._ My eyes closed as we approached the bottom.

A force struck my body, and I slowed down rapidly. Whiplash racked me, and my vision tunneled for a moment. Ground was below us.

We landed, looking around slowly. Three paths lay ahead, each a dimly lit tunnel.

"Great," Nyx said, "Which way do we go?"

Octavia lightly grabbed Fret's left attachment, causing three symbols to fly out. I remembered Fret talking about clefs before, and how the designated the timbre of the instruments. The three in front of me must've been the three he told me about: Treble, Bass, and Percussion. Each played a note followed by a short rest, and repeated this process.

"This day just gets more strange, doesn't it?" I whispered. "Care to explain what those are?"

"They're echoes of the parts," Octavia explained. "They call out to them. As we approach, the melody will become more advanced."

I looked ahead at the paths.

"Shall we split up?" I asked.

"We shall. You and Fret take the left, Nox and I will take one path each."

I smiled at the thought. The Treble clef went down the our path. Fret had already started down it; so had Nox.

Octavia looked at me for a moment, on the cusp of her path.

"You know where we are Lapis?" She asked me.

"This feels like a stronghold."

"That it is. Be careful. Tougher enemies must lie ahead. If you can avoid engagement, do so."

I heard Fret call to me.

"Heed my words," she said, then left.

I hurried after Fret, descending into the dank depths.

 _ **Fret's POV**_

This cavern was cold, even for me. I shivered. My Sandwing heat aura could only go so far. A small plume of fire left my maw, lighting up the path for a moment. Icicles hung from the ceiling. The whole tunnel was a glittering winter wonderland, like an Icewing had used its Frostbreath all over the place. This paths symbol, Treble, floated ahead of us.

My ears twitched, picking up a soft sound behind me.

"Took you long enough," I said. "What was your hold up?"

Lapis strode up to me and stopped. "Octavia just gave me a hint."

I nodded to her. Our breath made small clouds in front of us.

She moved a bit closer to me, trying to get closer to my aura, brushing my scales. She shivered against me, looking ahead.

"You need my heat, and I need your light," I said.

Her phosphorescent scales lit up, illuminating her body, and the cavern around us. Looking at her, I noticed her beauty. Her rich, shiny, ebony scales.

"You gonna stare see me all day?" She said, smiling at me. I hadn't noticed that I'd almost been infatuated with her.

"Sorry." I looked forward.

"No, get a good look," she said slyly, starting down the icy path. I just rolled my eyes, laughing to myself.

She stayed close to me, but I felt it was for more than just my heat. The feeling this cave have off was unsettling, and each other's presence made it just a bit more bearable.

"Can you use your powers in freezing conditions?" I wondered.

She generated a small ball of water, but as it left her talon, it froze to ice, which she couldn't manipulate.

"G-great," she said, shivering.

 _She can only use water that's touching her now._

We stalked on. Lapis's condition began to worry me. He body was not made to handle such cold, nor was mine, but my aura could help me. She had no such luxury.

I picked up a faint scraping sound in the distance. I put my wing out to talk Lapis to stop moving, and hopefully shaking.

"What is it?" She whispered to me.

"Icewing talons. Turn off your lights." She obliged.

Not much further, She spotted the Icewing with a torch, clearly for light. It's light cast shapes over the Ice, making creepy figures appear.

We stuck to the side routes around him, careful to not make much noise.

"Can he not hear the symbol's music?" I asked.

"Seems like it," Lapis answered.

The symbol passed by the Icewing, and he clearly saw it. The frills in his back stood up. He was alerted alright.

We stuck to the side paths, sneaking around, staying in his torch's shadow, but as we walked we just ran into more and more Icewings, until stealthing it wasn't going to work.

Lapis was thinking. She liquidised again, into a puddle at my feet, not much wider than I was tall.

 _Get in,_ I heard her thoughts say.

I step cautiously into the puddle, and Immediately sunk into it. Around me now is an ocean, wider than any sea I've ever seen. I makes me want to, gasp, if I had air that is. Lapis quickly swam to me, creating an air bubble.

"Thanks," I said, nearly gasping.

"It's nothing," she replies.

"What's the idea here?"

"Well, I can move the Undertow around. Maybe I could guide it to the other side without getting caught."

"I like it. But do it quick, before they see us."

The sea began to move rather quickly. To where, I didn't know. Our exit was in sight, but an Icewing blocked the path. We waited. He didn't move.

"We'll have to take him out," Lapis said. "Come here."

I swam closer to her. She lightly twined her tail with mine carefully. My heart leapt a little.

"Brace yourself," she said. Before I could ask "Why?" I felt a tingling sensation in my tail. I looked down at it to see my body turning to water.

At first, I freaked out, but Lapis calmed me down. The water was creeping along my scales, causing me to lose feeling in those areas.

Soon my body was liquid. I could only see my own silhouette.

"Now just leap out and grab him," Lapis stated. "The Undertow will do the rest."

"Uhh, where exactly is the surface?" I wondered. This place was disorienting.

"Just go where you think is up."

I followed her direction, and soon reached the surface of the water. After preparing myself, I leapt out at the Icewing, dragging him down into the water. Lapis created a pocket of air for him.

"I don't want him to die. I'll… I'll release him later."

Lapis ended the Undertow, and my body became normal again.

Lapis sighed as she came it of the Undertow. She looked tired; I couldn't blame her. She had used a lot of her powers.

"We have to move. If we don't, we'll freeze," I told her. She nodded and kept moving forward.

We reached a large circular room, with an icy balcony above it. Guards were on the balconies and the floor. In the center of the room was a dias. On it was a small, straight object. It was a glossy white, with lines down it.

 _That's the part, the strings,_ I thought.

 _Should we use stealth?_ She asked. I nodded.

 _We each take a balcony. Neutralize as many as we can. If we get detected, grab the part and book it._

Lapis understood, and flew quietly up to the far end of the balcony. I did the same.

I snuck up behind the first guard, knocking him out. The second saw me, and began to reach to a bell. I forged my bow and quickly shot him in the chest. He didn't cry out.

Laps was making progress. Soon the balcony was clear.

 _What now? We can't take the center guards out. There's at least ten of them. They'll see us Immediately._

I thought about this. Lapis was right.

 _Take as many as you can out with Undertow to draw attention. I'll grab the part while you do that._

Lapis landed quietly in the shadows, then crept toward The guards as water. She managed to grab a majority of them. While they were in disarray, I grabbed the part.

Lapis didn't wait, nor did I. We took off down the other side, guards on our tail. Arrows rained around us. Guards appeared in front of us. We dodged around as best we could, but both me and Lapis sustained injury. Deep cuts and gashes littered our scales. My gold scales were not splattered with spots if burgundy.

An arrow impaled itself in my hind leg, tearing and splitting my muscles. I stumbled and fell, wincing in pain.

Lapis didn't leave me. She turned back to me.

"Why now?" I moaned in pain, cursing the Icewings. The Icewings had no mercy upon us. We were surrounded.

The circle around us grew tighter. They approached, Spears ready.

Lapis grabbed me and used her Undertow once more. It was a brief respite.

"We're not safe. If they spear the water, we can be hit."

"Is there a way you can move the a Undertow faster?" I asked.

See had a aha moment. The water began to rush forward in a tidal wave, charging through the Icewings. Lapis looked like she was struggling to maintain the wave, but her job was done.

The wave ended, as did Undertow, tossing me and get forward quite forcefully. Ahead of us, the icy tunnel was black with sand. We must've been close to the Sand Kingdom.

Lapis lifted me unto my three good legs, helping me walk. We shambled through the tunnel.

The heat of the hot yellow star struck me. We walked quickly behind a dune to cover it sightlines before collapsing unto the smoldering sands, such a contrast from the Sub-Zero cave we'd came from.

We were we both bleeding, me much more heavily than she was.

"You came back for me…" I said slowly.

We lay on our sides. She laced her claws with mine. I looked into her deep, cerulean eyes. They wanted to say something, reveal what was hidden in her heart and soul, but her will wasn't letting the message out.

"You did the same for me. Consider it a repayment," she said, smiling. She leaned into me, her head laying on the curve of my neck. That moment I realized.

I trusted Lapis with my life. She did too.

We stayed here for a while, regaining our energy, enjoying the moment. I didn't feel my wound as I hugged her. Just her body and the pleasuring friction against mine.

My vision was becoming blurry and unclear. It was fading away. I felt Lapis pull away, and that was the last thing I remember.

I sat up with a start.

I was in a stone building, in the bedroom, clearly designed as an apartment. The bed beneath me was soft, with faded red splotches: my own blood.

At first I was confused, but slowly I began to remember. I looked down at my talons. One was wet, with a small, circular cast on it.

I got out of the bed, and tested my leg. It felt like a hellfire was burning me when I stood, and I had a small limp, and I felt a little weak, but I could still walk.

I slowly exited, wincing with every step my wounded talon took. I walked down a small hallway, hearing whispers.

"I hope he's alright," I heard a voice say; I guessed it was Lapis.

I stood just outside the room, listening.

"Hopefully he wakes up soon. He's been out cold for five hours," Nox said.

"What will we do when he wakes?"

There was a small pause. "Upgrade his mandachord I suppose. It was the whole point of the mission. And why do you care so much?"

I could imagine Lapis's reddened face.

"It's because I…"

I slowly walked in. They were sitting around a circular table. My heart hurts looking at it, as it reminds me of the meetings we had on the island so recently. Behind them was a wide window and balcony, and outside I saw a city: Sanctuary.

Lapis saw me first. She jumped up and hugged me, her talons wrapped around my neck. It felt like a choker was around my neck. Someone was happy to see me.

"Lapis…," I wretched. "I can't breathe…!

She stepped back.

"Sorry," she whispered.

I looked at Nox, taking a seat at the table. "Care to catch me up?"

"You passed out from blood loss. You're very lucky, according to our doctor here," Nox said, glancing at Lapis.

"It nearly hit an artery in your leg. We had to push the arrow's tip through to remove it. If we hadn't, we risked tearing more of your body apart," Lapis said.

I didn't know how to respond.

"Well… Thanks for saving me, both of you."

"Warframes stick together," Lapis said.

I nodded. "Where are the parts?"

Nox took them out of a satchel on her side, sliding then over to me.

"Fret, Body, and the, Strings, each for one of three instruments."

I picked the three of them up. Who knew that my power was hidden behind three little things?

My Mandachord began to react. The ones on my arms split open, revealing compartments for all three of the parts. Nox and Lapis looked on curiously.

I put the string in first, and another string appeared on the other side.

The Mandachord began to pull the other parts, slowly levitating and sucking then in. The parts settled peacefully in their small nooks and crannies.

The Mandachord snapped shut. For moment, we all just looked at each other, waiting patiently.

My front talons clenched, and the attachments glowed a deep gold. A choir sang quietly, up and down the pentatonic scale.

I felt pain, searing, razing pain all over my body. I looked down to see the lines on my wings begin to glow a deep Royal purple. Octavia's 'tattoos' weren't tattoos at all, they meant she was at full power.

The sharp black claws in my talons became purple. My chest's already intricate note design began to shift through purple, yellow and black. Vertical black lines like those in my wings skewered the notes. The rhythms became more complex, from eighth notes, all the way to thirty-seconds.

My song on my wings began to flow, and I realized it was being rewritten in front of my eyes. A new song for a new dragon I suppose. It was an amazing sight, my transformation.

"Whoa," Nox and Lapis said.

"You look so cool!" Nox exclaimed.

Lapis didn't say much more, only looking at me with a deep smile.

The pain in my body (minus my legs) faded away. I looked at my new figure. The new Fret. A power was in my veins. It made me energetic, this foreign power.

I heard steps coming from down the hallway beside me. Octavia. She peeked around the corner.

"Ah! The maestro is reborn! How do you feel?" She said excitedly.

"Different, powerful," was all I could muster up.

Octavia called herself a little.

"We'll train tomorrow. It's too dark now." She smiled. "You are me apprentice now, you know?" She said.

I nodded. "I'm ready to learn."

She yawned. "Tomorrow Fret, Tomorrow."

She left the room with a smile.

I walked out to the balcony, Nox and Lapis followed me. I stood in the middle, the two of them between me. A thought occurred to me.

"What're you thinking about?" Nox asked.

"Me," I replied. "Just think about this: if you have a sword, and you change it's hilt, then it's blade, then it's design… I'd it still the same sword it once was? I feel like I'm that sword. I've been changed over and over again. Am I still Fret?" I said, philosophically.

It was silent.

"I don't think you are. You're not how you where when we met. Nor am I, nor is Lapis. Our interactions have changed all of us."

I smiled, "Never thought I see you say something that smart."

She punched me while me and Lapis laughed.

I stared out at the Moons and the active town below me. I thought of all those dragons below me. I thought of all those lives.

 _They must be afraid. They must know about the Icewing attacks. Living in fear of attack. Leaving in fear of dying. Having to know how to escape no matter where they are._

I clenched my fist.

 _Know one should live like that._

Nox looked at me and nodded. She must've heard my thoughts.

I turned on my heel and entered the apartment.

"Let's get some sleep," I said.

We all went to our bedrooms, and lolled slowly to sleep, a big day ahead of us.

 _ **So there it is! Fret is Now perfected! I'm sorry for my hiatus, I just took a break, and i repayed you with a extra long chapter. Also, the last thoughts Fret has was inspired by recent events in the U.S, moreover the Parkland shooting. It came to mu mind that my story has citizens in a similar situation, and so I added that part.**_

 _ **Review if you want, and I'll see you in chapter Twenty: Escape!**_


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